


Danganronpa: History repeats

by AMF_studios



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Original Work
Genre: ...as far as you know, A new killing game begins, Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), It's been like... twenty years?, Multi, Murder, Murder Mystery, Sequel to the dangan ronpa games, So none of the characters were alive during the events of the games., The Jester is annoying as hell, Timeskip, but some of them do know what happened., no, none of them are fankids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26497501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMF_studios/pseuds/AMF_studios
Summary: Twenty years after the death of Junko Enoshima, the world has finally found some semblance of normal.But for 16-year-old Med-student, Alice Leeland, that normalness is about to disappear.She has no idea where she is or how she got here, just that she's trapped on an Island with 15 strangers, miles from the mainland, with a Junko Copycat telling them the only way to leave, is to kill.  Who can she trust?  will she ever make it out of here alive?  Only time will tell...
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Original Male Character/Original Male Character, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added





	1. Characters

The story doesn't actually begin here. At the time of uploading this, I am currently working on the prologue. The thing about murder mystery, it requires a lot of time and planning... so... while yall are waiting for that, I figured, why not get you guys familiar with the characters. These are in no particular order, and are just little insights into the characters you'll be reading about.

Ultimate Forensic Scientist: Alice Leeland- Our protagonist. She's a gal with brains, currently training to be get into Med school. She knows the human body better than any teenager should... a skill that will be useful in a killing game. Alice is a bit short tempered and has no room for disorder, She's always skeptical of things that don't entirely make sense. Logic and facts are the driving force of her life, however nothing about her scenario seems logical to her.

Ultimate Author: Mari Darkwood- Talk about prophetic naming, Mari is a gothic girl who takes life as it comes. She typically doesn't care enough to be involved, unless it comes to entertainment. Despite her dark nature, she is actually the author of a decently popular series of children's books centered around supernatural characters. She is immensely intelligent, however a bit standoffish, throughout everything, she looks out for number 1.

Ultimate mathlete: Lincoln Sparrow- This chubby boy is the personification of kind. His chipper grin is almost always across his face, he has no real enemies as he generally gets along with most people. On top of being kind, Lincoln is several grades ahead of his class in Math. This kid can do almost any equation, no matter how long or difficult, in his head... after looking at it for five seconds. The one drop back is, he's not that brave an individual. He will avoid conflict when he can, and has a bit of phobia to blood.

Ultimate Broadcaster: Erin Weathers- An Airhead with a podcast, Erin has a tendency to get on peoples nerves. She'll often broadcast random factoids she's read from the latest Teen Magazine she's read, not knowing or caring if the information is correct. She often speaks without thinking, thus saying things that really make no sense at all. If there is one thing about her though, she's convincing. She can say false things with so much sincerity it's impossible to tell whether or not she's telling the truth.

Ultimate Food Critic: Anthony Wong- A Chinese american boy with one sensitive tongue. This guy could tell you the exact cooking process someone used to prepare a dish after eating it, as well as point out any mistakes they may have made without actually seeing them cook the dish. Anthony is a friendly guy, often making conversation over a meal. Unfortunately, he's pretty gullible. He'll often believe what others say without a second thought, unless it comes to food.

Ultimate Bull rider: Martha Jones- A rough and tumble gal who doesn't take nothing from nobody. Growing up on a ranch, Martha learned that hard work pays. She is not one to give up without a fight, this is both a strength and a weakness, as often she's too busy trying to tough her way through something to notice there's an easier way to do it. She isn't the type to hold a grudge, and has a lot of value in community, most often, she's only mad at someone for a few minutes... Unless they've done something absolutely horrific.

Ultimate PR Manager: Alyssa Wessex- A cheerful girl who knows how to deescalate a situation. The oldest of 5 kids, she's learned a lot about taking care of others. She's a fair bit knowledgeable, and knows how to cheer people up. She's often the one to speak up for the little guys, making sure everyone gets a voice in the conversation.

Ultimate Cheerleader: Randal Hathaway- The Cheer captain of his old school, Randal is incredibly flexible, both physically and mentally. He can direct a team almost effortlessly, giving him a bit of an ego. Due to his leadership skills, he often thinks him being in charge is the best thing for any situation, even ones where he has no idea what he's doing.

Ultimate Architect: Daniel Turner- this bulky teen is a gentle giant who is genius architect. Daniel has been sketching designs for houses and buildings since his elementary school days. He's quite the well read fellow, often occupying his freetime with reading novels of both fiction and non. He doesn't know his strength, and as a result can be quite clumsy with fragile objects.

Ultimate Free Runner: Will Fitzgerald- with a quick mind, and even quicker body, Will is like a force of nature. Keeping him couped up in one place is his biggest weakness. He is so used to doing everything fast, that he has next to no patience. The one exception is neatness, Will is a total neat freak, thus will make sure everything he does at the very least looks decent, from his room to his penmanship, everything is neat.

Ultimate Referee: Serina King- Serina is cold, Calculative, and above all else, follows the rules. In almost every game she will voluntarily be the Ref in order to prevent either side from attempting to cheat. She holds herself as the enforcer of every rule she is aware exists. She has very few friends, and is borderline antisocial.

Ultimate Runway Model: Jenny Echefort- A fashion model, who ironically, is very humble. She's decently intelligent, yet has issues remembering things, often forgetting the names of those she is around. She is willing to help others wherever she can, especially when it comes to fashion. She is also quite artsy, designing a few of the dress she's advertised.

Ultimate Pastry chef: Angela Millers- A baker at heart, Angela has a love for anything sugary and coated in frosting. She often bakes her free time away, humming to herself to keep time. She's a rather chipper girl, always as sweet as the treats she makes. She hopes to one day open her own bakery.

Ultimate Demolitionist: Thomas ‘Timebomb’ Stevens- His parents own a auto-body shop, where he quickly learned how to dismantle basically anything. His nickname has a double meaning, on one hand it references how he can destroy anything with little effort and has great skill with explosives. On the other, it references his explosive passion. This guy practically yells everything he says, though not always in anger. He is easily excitable, and usually doesn't have a hard time looking for things to do. 

Ultimate Chemist: Hank Hartman- give this kid a chemistry set, he'll have a fully decked out lab ready by the end of the afternoon. He has a one tracked mined, once he decides to do something, he will go through with it to the bitter end. He is often sleep deprived do to working long hours into the night, as such he often makes hasty decisions that he often regrets.

Ultimate Marksmen: Theo McCarthy- Theo never misses. Give him any long range weapon, be it a gun, bow and arrow, throwing knife or otherwise, he will hit his target. He has massive trust issues. Coming from an abusive home, Theo does not let his guard down to just anyone. However, the few who can break his shell, he will stand behind through anything.

The Jester- A homicidal maniac with a massive obsession with Junko Enoshima, claiming her world of despair was better than modern society. She obscures her appearance with a jester/clown-like costume clearly based on Monokuma, being completely black on the left side, with the right side being completely blue. She often speaks in riddle for the sake of toying with her prey. While she gives off an appearance of having no rhyme or reason to her actions, she actually plans out everything she does. She is not to be trusted under any circumstance.

The story will be released in parts. Each part being a small section of a larger chapter, the final part of each chapter being the class trial. That being said, Stay tuned for kills, chills and thrills, when History Repeats!


	2. Prologue: Despair returns, Act 1

**Prologue: Despair returns**

**Act 1**

My head stirred as I returned to consciousness, the color of the world began to return to my vision as I groaned. I heard the voices of others chattering, adding to my splitting headache. 

“ _ All I’m saying is, this isn’t exactly ‘normal’ _ ,” one such voice was clear enough for me to make out. It seemed to belong to a girl around my age. 

“ _ No shit, this isn’t normal! _ ” I heard a boy yell in response, “ _ Does anyone have any idea how we got here?! _ ” 

Groaning still, I forced myself to my feet. Looking to my surroundings, I was met with an… odd situation. 

I was in a classroom, that much was obvious, though, it was definitely an old classroom. The paint on the walls was faded, almost peeling off in some areas. The desks were made of wood, rather than the more modern ones used in my school. On the front wall, a Chalkboard could be seen, with a crudely drawn image of… some kind of clown? Next to that was written, “ _ Welcome Class! _ ” 

I soon became aware, I was not alone. All around me, were various other teenagers. Directly in front of me were, who I had to assume, were the two who had been arguing. 

The girl had messy, jet black hair, reaching her shoulders in a bob-cut, contrasting her pale skin and tired purple eyes. He attire was that of glasses, black headphones around her neck, a black hoodie over a shirt with some kind of blue kanji, a black and blue skirt, and knee socks under black flats. A backpack that matched her theming hung off her shoulder.

The lanky boy opposite to her, had greased back red hair, and brownish eyes. His face and exposed arms had more than a few scars, making it look as if he’d been through a war zone. His sloppy clothing was that of a red tank top, goggles on his forehead, leather gloves, ripped jeans, mud covered steel-toe boots, and a tool belt wrapped around his waist. 

“I woke up here, same as you I assume?” The girl said in a calm, yet defensive tone, glaring at the boy. 

“Course I just woke up here!” The boy yelled in her face, “I’m asking how we got here!” 

As I looked around, more and more people became obvious. There seemed to be fifthteen people, not including myself of course. Eight boys, seven girls, factoring myself into the equation, it was an even split down sixteen. The two infront of me continued to argue, as I heard someone to my side say, “Oh, You’re finally awake!” 

I turned to him, seeing a boy just slightly shorter than I was, and a fair bit chubbier. His dirty blond hair was cut very short, barely an inch long. His face was framed by his blue tinted spectacles, as well as a small goatee on his chin. He wore very casual attire, a blue hoodie, yellow Tee, black shorts, and sneakers. 

“Guess that makes you the last one,” He smiled, putting out his hand, “Name’s Lincoln, what’s your’s?”

  
  


**Lincoln Sparrow: Ultimate Mathlete**

  
  


“Alice,” I replied, shaking his hand, though I jumped back at a small shock, “AH!”

Lincoln laughed, showing off his palm, “The good old joy buzzer! Just a harmless prank.” 

My eyebrows narrowed at such a dirty trick, his coy grin remained.

“Hey, it’s just to lighten the mood…” Lincoln chuckled, “believe it or not, only two other people fell for that!”

“Oh, lucky me,” I said in a sarcastic tone. Looking around the room, everyone seemed to have varying levels of confusion, “...What exactly is going on here?” 

“Beats me…” Lincoln put his hands in his pockets, “Last thing I remember, I’m walking to school, next thing you know I’m out cold. I woke up here ‘bout… eh, give or take fifteen minutes ago.”

“Strange…” The story lined up with mine for sure. The last thing I remembered was my morning commute. I remembered being cut off about half way through, and every after that was unclear, her vision came to the chalkboard again, “What does it mean by ‘Class?’” 

“I dunno anything more than you,” Lincoln sighed. 

“I GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!” Another boy yelled loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. I wasn’t able to get a good look at him before he charged at the door, attempting to break it down. When his first attempt failed, he ran to the opposite side of the room and tried a second time. After his third failed attempt, a noise rung through the room.

_ *ding dong, ding dong, bing bong bing bong!* _

With that, a TV screen in the corner of the room suddenly shot to life. The screen was staticy, the only thing that could be made out was a vague shape and a blurry blue hue on its right side.

“ _ Hello? HELLLOOOO?! Can everyone hear me? _ ” A distorted voice sounded from its speakers, “ _ Ahem… Welcome Class 1, to the first semester of New Hope’s Peak High!”  _

“Class 1…?” I questioned under my breath. 

“New Hope’s Peak?” The girl from earlier asked in similar confusion.

We all heard the sound of the door unlocking as the voice continued, “ _ Please gather in the gymnasium for opening ceremonies in half an hour, until then, you are free to roam the first floor of the school! Should anyone get lost, a map has been provided to each of you! Here’s a hint, check your wrist! _ ”

At that, most everyone immediately held their arms up, myself included. Attached to my wrist, was a bizarre smart watch. At the top of it, a black and blue logo that was similar to the crudely drawn clown was visible. I switched it on, after booting up, it first showed a small, 8-bit version of myself, including my brown hair with the annoying cowlic I could never get to stay down, my school uniform, my sapphire eyes, it was shocking! Right next to the sprite, text showed my full name: “Alice Leeland.”

“Huh, mine’s calling me ‘The Ultimate Mathlete’” Lincoln said looking at his watch, “what’s your’s?” 

Sure enough, beneath my name the text read, “Ultimate forensic scientist.”

“Huh, neat…” the chubby boy replied looking up. 

“Hey!” The boy who had been trying to break down the door exclaimed, “It’s unlocked!” 

Sure enough, once he turned the knob, the door clicked open.

“FREEDOM!!” He screamed in excitement, running out the door.

“HEY! If this is a school, you can’t run in the halls!” Another bespeckled girl, this one with silvery hair, ran after him. 

One by one, we all began to pour out of the room, coming into a large hallway. Just like the classroom, this hallway also looked like it had seen better days. A few of the many lockers lining the walls were without doors. The fluorescent lights on the ceiling were dim, as if they’d go out any day now. At the very least, this hall looked as though it’d been cleaned recently.

None of this made sense to me, why had we woken up here? Why had the voice called us “Class 1?” I didn’t recognise any of these people, nor did I remember changing schools… 

I caught sight of the girl I’d seen earlier, she was looking into one of the classrooms, a look of shock rolled onto her face as she opened the door. Based on how she only reacted to the apparent name of this place, I concluded she must have known something.

I followed her into the room, based on her wardrobe, it appeared she’d be right at home here. Unlike the last classroom, this one looked much better kept. Its black painted walls were perfect, as if it had been coated just that day. Rather than traditional lighting, blue and purple christmas lights were strung atop the walls. On one end of the room, a writing desk was visible, various cups filled with pencils and pens lined its shelves, along with a japanese looking fox statue. On the other end was a black couch, a table beside holding a lamp. All along the walls were various posters for alternative bands, horror movies, and various other things. 

“How… did they match my writing set up exactly?” The girl spoke in surprise. 

“They what?” I asked her. 

She turned to me, probably only now realizing I was present, “Oh… I thought I was alone…” 

“What were you saying just now?” I asked her. 

She turned back to the room, “This room… it looks exactly like my room back home…” 

That thought terrified me, it implied that whoever had brought us here had been inside our homes… I didn’t want to dwell on that. 

“We, uh… haven’t been properly introduced..” I said trying to change the subject, “My name is Alice, Alice Leeland.” 

“Mari Darkwood,” She replied, her focus still on the room. 

  
  


**Mari Darkwood: Ultimate Author**

  
  


“Darkwood… you mean the author of Ghoulies? Those little children’s books about monsters?” I questioned her. Yes, I was aware that she had been a teenager, but I never thought I had lived near her.

“The one and only,” Mari nodded, “Though, I’ve been meaning to get into more… mature, content as of late.” 

“Hmm…” I suddenly remembered why I had followed her, “When that voice over the TV said New Hope’s Peak, you reacted… might I ask why?” 

Mari was looking around the room, astonished at how close the detail had been to her actual room, “Hope’s Peak used to be the best High School in japan, but it was shut down during the… you know what, twenty two years ago.” 

She was talking about the most despair inducing incident in human history. Even though it happened and ended before I was even born, it was almost impossible not to know about it, and even harder to talk about. No one was ever sure how it had happened, just that a high school in Japan had been its epicenter.

“Odd…” was all I could say, “So you’re just as in the dark as I am…” 

“‘Revel in darkness,’ they say,” Mari recited simply, “If I knew any more than you, I’d have no reason to hide it.” 

I watched as she exited the room, I had a feeling the attention to detail our captor had put into it was scary, even for her tastes. I followed her once more, closing the door behind me. She went down the left side of the hall, so I decided to go down the right. 

Reminding myself that my wrist watch apparently had a map of this place, I swiped through its pages until the map program came up. As I expected, there was no function to call anyone. According to the map, a cafeteria was rather close to me, feeling my stomach growl, it reminded me that I hadn’t eaten breakfast that morning, something I was now regretting.

After a short walk, I found my quarry. The Cafeteria was in better condition than the halls and classroom, but not as well kept as the room made to look like Mari’s. The tables looked like they had been cleaned that morning, as well as the floors, though several of the tiles were missing. 

Adorning the walls were several posters featuring the same clown design, a pattern I was beginning to notice, that were encouraging to “Eat Healthy.” 

I walked over to the kitchen door, hearing voices on the other side, turns out I wasn’t the only one who was hungry. 

Walking inside, I was met with the most equipped kitchen I had seen in my life. It was like something straight out of Top Chef. There were wracks upon wracks of cooking equipment, as well as three refrigerators, and ovens. A door at the back seemed to lead to the pantry, which was currently closed. 

Standing in awe in the middle of the room, were the owners of the voices. 

One of them was a short girl who had blonde hair, tied into two braids, her face adorned with freckles just below her wide, yellow eyes. Her attire was that of a childish pink sweater with a kitten face, a red skirt, pink, star-covered socks, and some pink and white sneakers. 

The other was a chinese looking boy, with perfectly combed black hair, and a beauty mark on his left cheek. He was wearing very formal wear, consisting of a white dress shirt, black slacks and dress shoes. The logo on his breast pocket indicated he went to a private school, though likely different one from mine.

“Ah, ni hao!” He said, noticing me, “we were just admiring this… grand kitchen!” 

“It’s like something out of a cooking movie!” The girl said with stars in her eyes.

“Yes, we may not know where we are, but at least we’ll be well fed!” The boy said with a grin, “Anthony Wong, of Wong’s Best Tastes, a pleasure to make your acquaintance!” 

  
  


**Anthony Wong: Ultimate Food Critic**

  
  


“Wong’s best tastes… Are you… some kind of cook?” I asked, honestly the name didn’t ring any bells.

“Shenme?!” He said in surprise, before regaining his composure, “Y-you’ve never heard of me?” 

I shook my head. 

“Anthony’s a famous food critic!” The girl cheered in explanation, “he writes about restaurants on his blog, he judges everything from taste to presentation, and tells people whether or not they’re worth the time, he’s super duper smart!” 

That explained why I had never heard of him. Evidently he was quite the reliable source of information on restaurants, but since I never really ate out, I never used food blogs. 

“Ah, you flatter me, Angela,” He replied to the girl with a bit of flare, “I am simply a humble man, saving my fellow restaurant goers from a below average dining experience.”

“I see…” I narrowed my eyes, though I had no real idea who he was, if “Angela’s” account was to be believed, then something fishy was going on. A successful author like Mari, taken to the same place as a reliable food critic with a decent following was suspicious. Why would two recognizable people be taken to the same place without their knowledge or consent? 

My attention turned to the girl, “So… Angela, is it?”

“Yup! Angela Miller, at your service!” The blond exclaimed.

  
  


**Angela Miller: Ultimate Pastry chef**

  
  


“Pleasure to meet you,” I nodded, once again I felt my stomach growl, “There… wouldn’t happen to be anything readily available, would there?”

“Oh, there’s some fruits and donuts in one of the refrigerators!” She pointed out. 

I gave my thanks and grabbed an Apple from the one she pointed to. I figured I could come back for an actual meal later that day. I continued to look around this strange building, eventually I heard someone yell, “OW!”

Working my way to the sounds origin, I found the boy who had been trying to break the door to the classroom down. He had a black buzz cut, with a bit of chin fuzz. His eyes were an amber color, and his left eyebrow was pierced. His attire was a black tracksuit, lined with orange from top to bottom, a tiger logo was somewhat visible on the back, as well as his orange running shoes. A stray bit of blood was dripping from his nose.

He was on the ground, with the silver haired girl from earlier looking down on him. Her hair was tied in a ponytail that went to her back. Her clothing seemed similar to my own, a girls uniform with dark blue skirt, sweater vest with a white shirt and red tie, perhaps we went to the same school?

“Running in the halls is strictly prohibited in almost all schools, you twit!” She scolded him.

“Come on, I was cooped up in that classroom for like a half hour! You can’t expect me not to try and get some energy out!” He yelled in his defense. Now looking at him, I actually recognised his face and voice, He was a track and field champion, William Fitzgerald.

  
  


**Will Fitzgerald: Ultimate free runner**

  
  


He’d been making a name for himself by running and winning marathons lately. I had seen him on the news a few weeks prior after he had won a five hundred mile run, outracing multiple people much older and more athletically experienced than him.

“That’s no excuse, we must follow the rules to the letter, without rules, there would be nothing but anarchy,” the silver haired girl told him off.

“Who put you in charge?” Will asked, causing her to growl.

“Um, hello?” I said, getting their attention, “Is there a problem?”

“No of course not, I was simply stopping this hooligan from causing trouble,” She explained, glaring at the runner. 

“All I was doing was running!” Will defended himself.

“Um… I’m Alice, it’s nice to meet you two,” I introduced myself. 

“Hm, Serina King,” The girl said coldly. 

  
  


**Serina King: Ultimate Referee**

  
  


“Don’t break the rules, and we’ll get along just fine,” She said walking off, shooting Will one last glare.

“Geeze, who shoved a stick up her ass?” The runner got to his feat, “Thanks for showin up, otherwise I’m sure she woulda barked my ear off all day.” 

“You’re welcome,” I nodded, “so, have you any idea why we're here?” 

“No clue,” The runner shrugged, “This morning I was doing my laps, training for my next race. Then suddenly i’m out like a light, I wake up in a crowded classroom and boom, here we are…” 

“Just like all the others…” I sighed, it had seemed no one had any idea of our predicament. 

“I saw a couple other guys walk towards another room before Serina knocked me to the ground, think they’ll know anything bout it?” He suggested. 

“Well… it’s as good a lead as any,” I replied in a hopeful tone. He gestured for me to follow him. Little did we know, in twenty minutes, our semester of despair would begin… 


	3. Prologue: Despair returns, Act 2

**Prologue: Despair returns**

**Act two**

The room Will led me two was a large library, which led all the way up to the two floors above us. The walls were lined with bookshelves, so many it was like a maze. At the far end of the room were stairs leading to the second floor, and I assumed another flight of them were somewhere up there leading to the third. 

Within the library, there were three people. One of them was a very large looking young man, with a perfectly shaved face and groomed eyebrows. He was wearing a green turtle neck, a pair of jeans that looked brand new, and some white sneakers. He seemed to be looking around the room quizzically, as if something was on his mind. To be honest… we all had something on our minds.

The other two were girls, one of whom was a redhead with green eyes and long hair. She wore a red flannel button up, denim jeans and leather boots, decaled with bull designs. She seemed to have a lot of muscle to her, like she could break someone's arm like a twig. The look on her face told the sheer size of the library impressed her.

Finally, the last girl had a carmel color to her skin, with neat, dark hair. She was wearing a sea blue dress with a white sweater jacket over it, a sunflower brooch pinned to it. She had her nose in a book. She seemed to notice our entrance and walked over to us.

“Have you found anything?” She asked,”I’ve been looking around here, all I've noticed is these books are quite out of date.”

“Uh…. no,” Will answered.

“We came to ask if any of you knew something…” I finished the thought. 

“Unfortunately not,” The larger teen spoke up, “Honestly, this place is just confusing to me. Some areas look like they’ll fall apart any day now, others are in perfect condition… if this is really a school, I’d like to have a serious word with the one in charge.” 

“Same ‘ere!” the Redhead butted in, a heavy country accent to her voice, “why, Ah recon whoever brought us ‘ere knocked me out just ‘side the ranch. Bet my family’s worried sick ‘bout me.”

“All we really have to go on are these watches,” The dark skinned girl said, pointing to her wrist.

“And why are they labeling us as ‘Ultimates,’ anyhow? I’m a good architect, but Ultimate Architect is taking it a little far,” The large young man asked aloud.

“Mine says ‘Ultimate Bull Rider,’ That one’s right on the money,” The country girl boasted, “Ah’ve won the bull ridin’ championships in the local rodeo fer the past three years!” 

“I see, so everyone was given an ‘Ultimate title…’” My hand came to my chin, “I’m Alice Leeland, my watch designates me as the ‘Ultimate forensic scientist.’”

“Alyssa Wessex,” The carmel skinned girl shook my hand.

  
  


**Alyssa Wessex: Ultimate PR Manager**

  
  


“Daniel Turner, under better circumstances I’d say it’s nice to meet you,” The large teen sighed, a sad expression obvious on his face. 

  
  


**Daniel Turner: Ultimate Architect**

  
  


“Name’s Will,” Will Introduced himself, “You probably saw me on the news at some point.”

“Yes, you’ve one more than marathons, I believe,” Alyssa nodded.

“S’pose Ah’m up!” The country girl finally said, “Martha Jones, roughest, toughest gal this side a’ Albakerky!” 

  
  


**Martha Jones: Ultimate Bull Rider**

  
  


“Um.. Nice to meet you all,” I nodded, “I suppose your stories won’t differ much than ours?” 

“Someone knocked us out this morning?” Daniel recounted. 

“Woke up in a classroom with fifteen strangers?” Alyssa said next.

“No idea where in tarnation we are or how we got ‘ere?” Martha finished. 

“Sounds about right,” Will sighed.

None of us wanted to admit it, but we were scared. Everyone I had spoken two had no idea the scenario we’d gotten ourselves into. All of us were in the dark here, no one knew why we were here… or even where here was… 

All we could do was stay calm. Surely, with sixteen disappearances the police would have been on high alert, right? I wanted to believe that, but something in my mind told me it wouldn’t help...

“ _ Yello! Testing, Testing! _ ” A screeching voice rang over the intercom, making it impossible to hear myself think, it wasn’t the same as the voice from before, but it most definitely irritated me, “ _ This is Erin Weathers with ‘Weather or not?’ _ ” 

“Erin Weathers?” Alyssa questioned as the voice continued to ramble about something.

“That dunce with the podcast?” Will apparently recognized the name, “She’s here too? Heh, why are the famous ones the only ones ending up here?” 

“Who’s Erin Weathers?” I asked him.

“Like I said, she’s got a popular podcast on the internet,” The runner replied, hands in his pockets, “She rambles on about teen gossip, random thoughts she had, which actor’s are cute or hot, really I have no idea how she’s got an audience.” 

The pattern continued. A popular author like Mari, Anthony, a reliable food critic, a record breaking runner in the form of Will, A champion bull rider like Martha, and now this Erin girl. High profile teenagers mysteriously appearing in a strange school… Whoever set this up would have needed to be crazy to think they could get away with this.

“I suppose she found the office then…” I said quietly. 

“If she did…” Daniel began thinking, “perhaps there’s a phone we can use!”

“He’s right, almost every school office has a land line at the very least!” Alyssa said in agreement, “I recommend we split up and find where she is!” 

“Right!” Daniel said exiting the library, speed walking down the left side of the hall. 

“Wait for me!” Will said running after him, completely disregarding what had happened with Serina earlier. 

“Guess we best get lookin’!” Martha ran off in the other direction. 

Before Alyssa left, she turned to me and said, “Care to come with me? The buddy system is adequate for most scenarios such as this.” 

“Yes, that seems like a safe option,” I gave her a small smile. The Two of us walked off in the same direction as Martha. Looking into the window of every door we passed, wondering which was the office. Of the various rooms, a few notable ones were a music room, which looked nearly abandoned, a few basic classrooms, and a workshop, which seemed to have people inside. 

I opened the door, revealing to myself one of them was the same Redheaded boy who’d been arguing with Mari when I had awoken. He was looking amongst the many shelves of tools that line the workshops walls. 

I noticed in the middle of the room was a half-dismantled pickup truck, with faded red paint. Additionally, this room seemed to be more like a garage, a large garage door at the back. Instinctively, I walked toward it, thinking it’d be a way out. 

“Don’t bother,” I heard the redhead’s voice say, causing me to stop in my tracks.

Another, more tired voice added, “We already tried that, the door is electronically controlled and the remote doesn’t seem to be here.” 

The origin of the second voice was a sleep-deprived looking boy, who was about a foot shorter than myself, with long, greasy green hair that probably hadn’t been washed in days. His tired, hazel eyes were looking at me with disinterest. He was wearing a labcoat that went down to his knees, a few stains on it were visible. Over his hands were teal, rubber gloves were visible. Around his neck hung safety goggles, dangling like a necklace. Underneath the scientist get up, He seemed to be wearing normal clothes of jeans and sneakers, likely a T shirt as well, but I couldn’t tell. 

“Hank and I’ve been checking all over this room, looking for something to clue us in on what the hell’s going on,” The redhead spoke up, “for some reason it looks exactly like my garage.” 

“ _ Just like Mari… _ ” I thought to myself, “My name is Alice Leeland, and Alyssa Wessex is out in the hall, who are you two?” 

“Timebomb,” The Redhead replied. 

I stared at him in confusion, “I… beg your pardon?” 

“His actual name is Thomas Stevens…” the other boy, apparently dubbed “Hank,” spoke up, “He prefers his edgy nickname, Timebomb.” 

“Fuck you,” Thomas yelled.

  
  


**Thomas ‘Timebomb’ Stevens: Ultimate Demolitionist**

  
  


“Well then, T-Thomas” “Timebomb” He cut me off. A gave a small cough and continued, “Right, you said this looked exactly like your garage… are you a mechanic?” 

“Hell no, mechanic’s make shit, I break shit,” Timebomb replied, searching through the drawers, “The only things I ever make are dinner and explosives.”

“Explosives?!” I took a step back. 

“Damn right, I’m a demolitions expert!” a crazed grin formed on his face, “That’s what we’ve been doing. Hank and I are gonna set up a chemical bomb and blow this pop stand… literally!” 

“Oh yeah… I’m Hank Hartman, by the way,” the short boy sleepily spoke up. 

  
  


**Hank Hartman: Ultimate Chemist**

  
  


“I… take it you two are already acquainted?” I asked. The two seemed familiar with each other. 

“We’re neighbors,” Hank answered.

“I see… well, I’m going to go find… E-Erin Weathers…” I said nervously, Timebomb’s eyes seemed to keep a grip on mine, “Evidently… She found the office, which might have a telephone.”

“If ya find her, tell that bitch to turn off the PA, I can’t hear myself think!” The redhead demolitionist yelled, continuing to search through the drawers.

“Will do!” I said as I frantically left the garage, I was so careless leaving the room, I accidentally knocked into Alyssa. 

“Ah!” She said as both of us went down.

“Sorry,” I apologized. 

“It’s fine… but please get off of me,” the caramel skinned girl replied. 

I complied, getting to my feet, as I did, I realised that a bit down the hall, Lincoln and Mari were standing in front of one of the doors, the look on Mari’s face was one of disgust. 

“I can’t believe it,” I heard Lincoln say.

“What moron gave  _ her _ control of the PA system!?” The teenage author at his side asked.

I walked over to the two, “you found the office?”

Looking into the same door as them, my eyes were assaulted with the most pink I’d ever seen in my life. The room on the other side was the stark opposite of Mari’s, the walls line lined with pink, sound-proofing foam. Though my vision was limited, I was able to see that on one end of the room a girl was sitting at a white table, speaking into a microphone. 

The girl herself had curly, strawberry blonde hair reaching her back. She was fair skinned, with pink painted nails. Her attire was that of a sparkly, pink, shoulderless shirt, fancy looking jeans and some hot pink sneakers. Based on context, I assumed she had to be Erin Weathers.

Mari walked in front of me, opening the door. She ran up to the other girl and knocked the microphone out of her hand, “For the love of god, shut up!”

“Hey, I was in the middle of my show!” the girl’s voice had a stereotypical bratty tone to it.

“Erin, you’ve been talking into the PA system!” Mari scolded, confirming that this was the girl in question. 

  
  


**Erin Weathers: Ultimate Broadcaster**

  
  


“...Like, do I know you?” Erin asked, clearly getting a rise out of the goth author. 

“Mari Darkwood,” Mari answered, getting nothing but a blank stare from the blond, “we went to the same middle school… You took credit for one of my stories in creative writing!” 

“Ooooh! That Mari! Ya look way different now,” Erin said looking her up and down, “What’s with all the black, you’d think a children’s book author would have a bit more color to them!” 

“Do they… know each other?” I quietly asked Lincoln. 

“We all went to the same middle school,” The mathlete replied, “I’d keep my distance if I were you, they  _ hate _ each other!” 

“At least I don’t blind everyone who looks at me,” Mari scoffed, turning away from the pink-clad girl. 

“Yeah, you despress them,” Erin smirked as a scowl formed on the author’s face. 

“Lincoln… Hold me back,” the girl said calmly, before turning around, ready to rip erin limb from limb. Thankfully, the chubby mathlete was able to grab a hold of her before she did something drastic. 

“Um… I see what you were talking about…” I felt awkward, like this was something I shouldn’t have been watching. Thankfully, the same bell sound effect played through the halls, halting Mari’s assault. 

Another nearby screen came to life, still a static screen with the same voice accompanying it, “ _ Time’s up, kiddos! Please meet in the gym immediately for orientation! _ ” 

A silence fell over us all. Given the circumstances, our best option seemed to be to comply with the voice’s wishes for now. Not sure what would come next, we all silently walked to the gym… where we would meet our captor face to face.


	4. Prologue: Despair returns, Act 3

**Prologue: Despair returns**

**Act 3**

We all converged in the gym, there I saw everyone I had met prior… as well as three people I hadn’t. 

One of them, I most definitely recognised. But then again, it was pretty hard not to recognise Jenny Echefort, a teenage runway model. The Blunette was quite the pretty face, a natural beauty who was on the cover of multiple teen magazines. Her being here was definitely note worthy. 

Believe it or not, but Erin was the first of us to approach her, “OMG! Jenny Echefort! I am, like, such a huge fan!” 

The model was caught a little caught off guard by the blond’s enthusiasm, “Aw, I’m always happy to meet a fan… even under these circumstances.” 

  
  


**Jenny Echefort: Ultimate Runway model**

  
  


“I, like,  _ have _ to get your autograph! It’ll make all my listeners so jelly!” Erin’s eyes went wide. 

“Um… can it wait? I’d like to know what’s going on first,” Jenny replied, politely telling her no.

I turned my attention away from them to focus on the two boys, whom I hadn’t met yet. One of them was slender, with fair skin and blond hair. He was wearing a private school uniform, similar to the one Jenny wore. 

“What are you looking at?” He said, noticing my gaze. 

“Um… I’m Alice Leeland… you are?” I said, caught off guard. 

“Randal Hathaway,” He simply responded, looking away from me.

  
  


**Randal Hathaway: Ultimate Cheerleader**

  
  


“That guy’s a cheer captain,” An unfamiliar voice came from behind me. I turned around, seeing the third person I had yet to meet. He was a broad shouldered boy with dark skin. He had a medium build, a decent bit of muscle to him, but definitely not as much as Daniel. His dark, curly hair was held back in sort of a Mullet/dreadlock hybrid, as well as a bit of a goatee. His eyes were a deep blue, and had an untrusting, skeptical look to them. 

His attire was pretty worse for wear, all things considered. His dark jeans were covered in tatters, allowing me to see what looked like bandages on his legs. A dark blue sweatshirt covered his torso, a faded logo on its front. 

“You know him?” I asked. 

“No, but I know of him… in fact, a lot of you guys are pretty recognizable,” He said, looking around the room, “Well known food critic, Model, famous author… All pretty hard to miss.” 

“You noticed it too?” I said, “most of us are high profile figures, who people would definitely notice going missing.”

“Keyword, most…” He said, “Name’s Theo.” 

  
  


**Theo McCarthy: Ultimate Marksmen**

  
  


“Alice,” I replied, “What is going on here…?” 

“I have a pretty good idea,” Theo said looking around the room one last time, “I’d watch your back if I were you.” 

He walked away from me, not saying another word. I wasn’t given much time to think about it, as a speaker system suddenly sounded in the voice of, what we assumed was, the one who brought us here. 

“ _ Mic check, can everyone here me alright? _ ” The voice said, “ _ Alrighty, then! Welcome everybody, to the first semester of New Hope’s Peak Academy! I am your headmistress…” _

“THE JESTER!” We all leaped back as the woman suddenly appeared. 

She had been wearing a costume with the same clown design I’d been seeing all over this strange place. The whole thing was split down the middle, the right side blue, the left side black. Her mask had two different looking eyes, the right being closed, as if laughing with glee, the left being blood red, and shaped like a four pointed star. A wide grin was spread across the mask’s face, the left side lined with sharp teeth. The mask hat two long pieces at the back, almost resembling twin-tails, each with a silver bell at the end. Similar silver bells lined her shirt like buttons, leading to her black, poofy skirt, over her black and blue tights. Her shoes curled at the toe, also holding these bells, and her hands were draped in black gloves, with slits showing off her sharp, blue polished fingernails. 

  
  


**/0\@ <@ +0#@: The ^l+|/@t* )*~&@|` Jester**

  
  


We stood in stunned silence, all of us unsure what we were looking at.

“Well? Aren’t you going to greet the Jester? Geez, kids today are so rude,” The woman put her hands on her hips. 

“I-I’m sorry… what is going on?” Anthony said what we were all thinking. 

“What the hell’s with the clown suit?” I heard Timebomb question at loud. 

“THE JESTER IS NOT A CLOWN!!” The woman yelled in sudden rage, she folded her arms, seeming to pout “Now, the Jester knows this is a confusing situation for you all, but don’t worry, she will explain!”

A hand raised from us, which this woman… The Jester, took notice of. 

“Yes?” She said. 

The one who had raised their hand was Theo. he spoke up, “You said this place is New Hope’s peak, do you say that as in the school that gathered prodigies to hone their talents?” 

“Huh, kid knows his stuff, That is correct!” The Jester said, “If all of you have looked at your watches, you’ll see the Jester has assigned each of you ‘Ultimate Titles.’ These titles mean you have a talent that is unusual for your age, as such, you have been brought to this school to reach the true peak of your potential!” 

“But…” Angela started, gripping Anthony’s arm, “We never signed up for anything like this!” 

“Oh, silly girl! That’s how Hope’s Peak has always been run, you don’t sign up, we scout you out!” The Jester explained, “The Jester has been watching all of you for the past few months, and she must say, The jester thinks she couldn’t have found any student’s more deserving of the title of ultimate!” 

Those words seemed to sooth some of us, like Will, Anthony and Lincoln, who all sighed in relief. However I couldn’t help but feel something sketchy was at play here. If she was telling the truth, why weren’t we notified beforehand we had been accepted into this program? Wouldn’t we remember coming here?

“So… exactly how long will we be here?” Randal asked, “I need to get back to my team as soon as possible, they are nothing without me.”

“Well, you’ll be here for approximately… Let’s see carry the 3, subtract 4, yadda yadda,” The Jester rambled on, “Oh, yeah!  _ The rest of your natural lives _ !”

With those words, a feeling of dread swept over us all. 

“SHINME?!” Anthony shouted in surprise. 

“Y-you can’t be serious!” Jenny shouted out. 

“The rest of our lives?!” Daniel’s face was almost white. 

“That’s right!” The Jester’s tone remained chipper, despite the news she had just given, “You see, most school’s fail in that their students only have a limited time to learn. But since New Hope’s Peak is more than capable of providing for your needs for the foreseeable future, you can spend all of your time focusing on enhancing your already great skill!” 

“B-but… You can’t keep us here our entire lives!” Alyssa yelled with pleading eyes. 

“Of course The Jester can!” the woman cackled, “But of course… for those who are really serious about leaving… there is a way…” 

The way she said that last part sent a chill up my spine.

“Let me guess…” Theo said, “We have to kill each other...”

“Give the kid a prize!” The Jester laughed, “You’re right on the money! If you can kill one of your classmates, and get away with it, The Jester will allow you to leave!”

“W-We… have to…” Lincoln couldn’t even finish his thought, his usual grin replaced with a terrified expression. 

“H-hey! Who says you can keep us here!” Daniel shouted. 

“Yeah!” Martha cracked her knuckles, “I mean, there’s sixteen’a us, an’ one a y’all!” 

“Oh my… do we have a little rebellion, here?” The Jester said in a quiet tone, “Well… how bout I show you why that won’t work for you…” 

She took a remote from her pocket, pressing a button, a platform began to lower, a top it was a very roughed up, black and white teddy bear, which was missing one of it’s eyes. 

“Why, what’s that Mr. Bear? You don’t wanna follow the rules anymore?” She said, looking at the plush toy, “TOO BAD!!” 

She pulled revolvers out of her sleeves, rapidly shooting the plush toy while yelling, “BANG!” over and over again. After about twelve shots, the toy was almost unrecognisable, a stunned look fell over our faces as she reloaded. 

“I liked that bear… I barely know any of you,” She said as she put her guns away, “You can kill whoever you want, I won’t get involved… but if anyone tries to take me down, they’ll eat lead!” 

  
  


The venom in her voice terrified even the bravest of us. She wasn’t making threats… this was a promise.

“Now, then, with that out of the way, all the rules concerning killing, as well as the school in general, can be found on your watches. You may explore any room on the first floor at your leisure until 10 pm, which is curfew, after which only your rooms, the public restrooms, and the kitchen are available,” The Jester continued in her chipper tone, “The Jester hopes you will have a fun, fulfilling life here at New Hope’s Peak!” 

And with that, she fell backward into a trap door, which sealed shut after she went through it. She left us all in panicked silence. 

“W-what is going on h-here!?” I asked with a stutter. 

Theo walked past me, on his way to the door, “In short… a killing game.” 

**Students left: 16**

**To be continued...**


	5. Chapter 1: And so it begins. Act 1

**Chapter 1: And so it begins**

**Act 1**

“ALRIGHT!” Serina shouted after we had gathered around a table on the third floor of the Library, we had chosen this spot as it was the area most concealed from our captor’s cameras, “I would like to officially call the first meeting of the New Hope’s Peak Academy Escape Committee to order! We shall begin by comparing notes. Who would like to start?” 

“Angela and I scouted the pantry, While we are still unsure it will last us the rest of our lives, there definitely is enough food to go around,” Anthony was the first to speak.

“When we were searching the library we noticed there’s a pretty big greenhouse out back,” Daniel added, “It would appear this academy’s food supply is self sustaining.” 

“But seeing as the one growing that food is also the one keeping us here, there’s no telling what she could have done to it,” Alyssa said in a worried tone.

“She hasn’t done anything  _ yet _ ,” Anthony said, “Most often there are signs when unhealthy substances have been added into food. I checked it myself, almost everything in the pantry is safe to eat… for now.”

“Alright, so for now the food situation is handled,” Serina nodded, “Did anyone find a way to exit the building?” 

“Bombs are a bust,” Timebomb groaned, “Hank and I found the front door, but I guess that fucking clown figured we’d try to blow our way out. All the doors are reinforced, the only explosives that could take em out would take half the building with them.”

“All the windows on the first floor have sheets of steel bolted over them,” Lincoln sighed.

“It’s the same with the second floor library, I’m guessing she did it to stop us from breaking a window,” Mari agreed, typing away on her laptop, “only the ones on this floor aren’t sealed. Probably because even if we tried that, we likely wouldn’t survive the fall.” 

A terrible feeling fell over us all. A feeling of hopelessness… we were trapped. No way out… 

“Well then…” Alyssa broke the silence, “How much do we know about where we are?” 

“We found dorm rooms,” Will answered here, “there's a hall with sixteen of them. The door’s are electronically locked, you need these watches to open them.” 

“We were only able to check our’s out, but they’re, like, really good,” Erin added. 

“Soundproof, comfortable beds, our own bathrooms, if the circumstances were better, I’d think this was a 5-star hotel,” The runner agreed. 

“Evidently, each of has been granted an ‘Ultimate Lab’ as well,” Serina said, “Whoever the jester is, she was serious about improving our talents. These rooms were designed with the ideal conditions for us to reach maximum results in our abilities. Mari’s, Thomas’s-” “Timebomb!” “-, Erin’s, and the kitchen counts for both Anthony and Angela, are all on this floor. The Jester appeared not long ago and explained that there are four labs on each floor of the building, and three are in separate buildings outside. The reason we don’t have access to these areas is because they haven’t been fully prepared.” 

“Wait, she just  _ told  _ you that?” Will questioned. 

The silver-haired girl adjusted her glasses, “It would appear our captor has secret passageways, allowing her to roam the school without attracting our attention.” 

“You… don’t actually think that, do you?” I hesitantly asked. 

“She’s not wrong!” We all leaped back at the Jester’s sudden appearance, “You brats think just cause you’re out of sight of the camera, that the Jester doesn’t know what you’re doing?”

No one responded, we simply looked at her, hoping she wasn’t about to do something crazy. 

“If you guys want out of here so badly… All I gotta see is a little initiative!” The jester laughed, turning and walking away. Her bells jingling as she did. 

“Y-You know, the cops are gonna find us!” Martha shouted out, the tone of her voice betraying her words of belief, “sixteen teenagers missin,’ someone’s bound ta notice!” 

The Jester stopped in her tracks, she cackled again, this time in a cold, low voice, “Well it’s a good thing we’re thirty miles off the mainland!” 

The vile woman cackled maniacally as she skipped away.

“W-what did she just say?” Lincoln asked in disbelief.

“We should ignore her,” Serina put a hand on his shoulder, “The best thing we can do is remain calm, and continue looking for a way out.” 

“Before we do that…” Daniel spoke up, “Is anyone else hungry?” 

At those words, pretty much all of us donned the same look. We were starving. Almost none of us had eaten before we’d split up to begin our searches, and we hadn’t an Idea as to when we’d last eaten before then. 

“I could eat,” Mari replied. 

“Same,” About half of us unanimously agreed. 

“I think I can make us some dinner,” Angela said, a grin coming to her face, she turned to the boy next to her “Anthony, you want to help?” 

The chinese boy began to look nervous, “Uh… Well you see…” 

“Don’t tell me you don’t know how to cook,” I said looking at him in disbelief. 

“Um… Ever hear the phrase ‘Coaches don’t play?’” Anthony asked, trying to save face, “That applies to critics as well. But, I would be happy to supervise!” 

“I’ll help,” Hank said with a yawn, getting a look from most of us. 

“ _ You _ can cook?” Mari raised an eyebrow. 

“Course I can, I’m a Chemist,” Hank said getting up, “Chemistry was born in the kitchen.” 

“Alrighty then!” Angela cheered, “Let’s go make a meal we’ll never forget!” 

“Right, behind you,” Anthony followed her. 

“Whatever,” Hank yawned, slowly walking behind.

“Alright, we will meet for dinner at 6 o’clock sharp, I recommend we use this free time to the fullest,” Serina said, before walking off herself.

“Who put her in charge,” Will grumbled as he and several others began to leave, ultimately leaving myself, Daniel, and Mari the only ones left in the room.

I decided it would be best to better acquaint myself with the others, at the very least to lower my chances of being… I wasn’t going to dwell on that.

“So Mari, you’ve been typing quite a lot,” I said, trying to start up some conversation.

“Oh…” She processed what I had said, “Yeah, I’m trying to get some writing done… helps me feel in control.” 

“Working on the latest installment of ‘the Ghoulies’ I take it?” Daniel said. 

“You’re a fan?” the dark haired girl asked, raising her brow a bit.

“Oh, no no, my little brother is,” Daniel replied, “He loves every single one of your books, has me read em to him every night. His favorite character’s gotta be Belfry, he just loves vampires.” 

A small smile crept onto the young author’s face, as well as a bit of color.

“Well… if we get out of here, be sure to tell your brother that I’m flattered,” She said in a quiet, yet happy tone. Daniel replied with a nodd. The ice being broken a bit, Mari continued, “and no, this isn’t a Ghoulies book. I’m working on branching into other genres at the moment. Currently, I’m trying to write a mystery novel.”

“Who doesn’t love a good mystery,” I said with a laugh.

“That’s my though process,” Mari continued to type, “Hopefully this writing something different for a change will finally get those weirdos off my back.” 

“Weirdos?” Daniel questioned. 

“Mostly paranoid parents thinking I’m corrupting their kids with satanism…” The author said, pulling up a few E-mails she had saved, “I save the weirdest ones just to laugh at how rediculous they are! Here, look at this one!” 

She turned her computer towards the larger teen, “Geez, didn’t anyone teach this guy to spell? This is the worst grammar I’ve ever seen!” 

“No wonder they’re insulting someone who does this for a living!” Mari laughed, “Oh, oh wait, this one is my favorite!” 

She pulled the computer back and searched through her files for a bit. After finding the one she desired she gave an “Ahem,” before reading it aloud in a voice deeper than I thought any girl could speak, “Greetings Miss Darkwood, I am joyous to have found yet another child of the seventh demon lord, and am glad you have taken it upon yourself to spread these teachings. When my conquest ravishes this land, your life will be one of the few spared. Sincerely, G. Nevermind!” 

“There is no way it says that,” Daniel cracked a grin.

Mari gave a small cough, before her voice returned to its quiet, yet raspy state, “Read it yourself.”

She turned the computer towards us, sure enough everything she’d said was written there. 

“G. Nevermind? That is one fake ass name,” the larger teen chuckled. 

“That’s what I said!” Mari laughed.

I joined in on the laughter, ignoring Mari’s ability to change her voice so much.

“But… enough about me, what’s up with you two? We might as well get to know each other,” the goth asked, likely looking to further the conversation. 

  
  


“You’ve been pretty quiet, Alice,” Daniel turned to me, “So what was your life like before this mess.”

“Well, I’m nothing too special,” I said modestly, “I’m just a med student. Evidently I have a talent in medicine, so my parents are pushing me to become a doctor.” 

“Med student… but aren’t you sixteen?” Mari questioned, “most medical students are in their twenties…” 

“Well, I have been called something of a prodigy…” I answered with a bit of a blush, “But really, that’s not me. I’m just a girl who happens to know the inner workings of the human body better than most adults. Honestly, I’m pretty bad in most other subjects, I can barely do basic math without a calculator.” 

“Still, a teenage medical student is pretty impressive,” Daniel spoke up, “Guess we know why you’re an Ultimate.” 

“What’s up with those ‘Ultimate titles’ anyhow,” I asked, I was still confused on what that meant. 

“Basically they’re given to people who could be considered geniuses,” Mari answered, “In a lot of countries, when someone receives an Ultimate title they’re given a massive amount of influence. The government gives them grant money to develop their skills further, and almost everyone in their field looks to hire them.” 

“I see, so being an Ultimate essentially guarantees you a decent life,” Daniel nodded in understanding.

“That’s why the original Hope’s Peak was built. To bring in these Ultimates from all over and give them the best resources available,” Mari said. 

“How do you know so much about this place, anyhow?” I asked.

Mari was caught a little off guard by the question. After a deep breath, she reached into her bag, pulling out a letter, “I got this a few weeks ago.” 

She set the letter on the table. The Bolded text read, “ _ Letter of acceptance _ ,” signed by “ _ M. Naegi. _ ” 

“After summer break, I’m supposed to ship out to Tokyo. I’ve been researching the school lately because I’m gonna go there,” Mari said, “I’ll be a part of class 98 starting in August.”

“So you actually  _ are _ an Ultimate?” I said, “The jester didn’t just pick you at random.” 

“That’s why it confused me when she said  _ New _ Hope's peak, the original is still standing today,” Mari explained, “but this situation…” 

She paused as a grim look came to her face.

Daniel put a hand on her shoulder, “Don’t worry, we’re going to get out of here, I’ll make sure of it.”

A small smile crept back to her face, “Thankyou.” 

Though the topic had gone a little darker than expected, I couldn’t help but feel the three of us had grown closer. 

The conversation was taken to more light subjects, Like some of the buildings Daniel had designed, or a few funny stories from our pasts. Eventually, I decided I would check out my room, hoping it would prove to be better than most of the school looked.

Thanks to the map of the school on my wrist watch, I was able to quickly find the hall with the dorm rooms. There were eight on each side, boys on the left, girls on the right. Each of the doors had an 8-bit character of us, similar to the watched. I came to the door of my room, only to find it was locked.

“Dang it… how do I open this,” I said, looking for a keyhole or some kind of way to unlock it.

“You gotta use your watch,” I heard Will’s voice behind me. Sure enough, the runner came up behind me, “There’s a touch screen next to the door. Hold your watch to it an it’ll unlock.” 

Holding up my wrist, I heard the door unlock. 

“See, there ya go!” Will said as I opened the door. 

Looking inside, I saw a very bare-bones room. There wasn’t much aside from a bed with pink sheets, a desk on one end of the room, a door(which must have led to a bathroom), and some tasteful japanese decor. 

“Look’s just like Erin’s,” Will said, “Guess Pennywise’s girlfriend didn’t do much personalization for us.”

“It’s in bad taste to insult your principal,” We heard a familiar voice behind us. Once again, the Jester had appeared from nowhere. 

“What the?! Where the hell do you keep coming from!?” the runner yelled in shock. 

“The Jester has her ways,” the wicked woman giggled, her bells jingling as she did. Based on how the slightest movement seemed to set them off, this woman being so quiet certainly added to Serina’s theory of secret passages, “And of course, your dorm rooms were only prepared with the essentials, any and all personalization you kids can do yourselves.”   
  


“If you want us to kill eachother so badly, why give us these things in the first place?” I asked, “Why not just hide away the food and only allow the killers to eat?” 

“DON’T GIVE HER IDEAS!!” Will yelled at me.

The Jester gave a low, and slow cackle, “well, Miss Leeland. Where would be the fun in that? Killing over food is so… stale, I’ve already gotten all the enjoyment I ever could from that…” 

Once again her tone seemed much more terrifying, it would have seemed that the only time she spoke in first person was when she was dead serious about what she was saying. If what she had said was true… this wasn’t the first time she’d forced people to kill. 

“A game is no fun if it’s exactly the same, so I tend to change the rules from time to time…” The Jester continued laughing, “But I do know this, the game’s going to start  _ very soon _ !”

She skipped away, cackling as she went. 

“That bitch is crazy… is this all some game to her?!” Will asked in frustration. 

“I really don’t want that question answered,” I shuddered. I wanted to turn the conversation in a different direction, “So… what was your life like… before this I mean.” 

“Nothing too special,” The runner replied, “When I’m not training for a marathon, I’m usually just at school, cleaning, or hanging with the guys.” 

“I’m similar, honestly. Since my parents are expecting me to become a doctor I mostly just study. Occasionally my sister and I will go out and do something, but… I don’t have many friends,” I admitted. 

“Why’s that?” Will raised a brow.

“A lot of people are either put-off by my knowledge of how the human body works, or they think I’m some self important jerk cause I’m a ‘Prodigy,’” I replied, “I’m really nothing special.” 

“Eh, what can ya do?” Will shrugged, “some people just don’t like facing things that are weird.”

“You say as if you know from experience,” I said. 

“Yeah. You wouldn’t think it, but I am a massive neat-freak,” the runner laughed, “I can’t tell you how many of my friends have told me my room looks nothing like they expected.” 

“Well, I see nothing wrong with being tidy, if anything it’s just a more efficient way of life,” I replied with a nod. Really it was an odd thing to be put off by. 

“That’s my thought process, it just helps me get things done faster,” Will chuckled, “And believe me, part of the reason they call me the Ultimate Free Runner, I do  _ everything _ fast.”

“I can imagine,” I said with a small laugh. 

“Welp, if ya need me I’ll be in the gym, I really need to get some energy out,” Will said walking off. I waved goodbye. I felt like he and I had gotten a bit closer after our talk. 

Looking at my watch, I still had an hour before dinner. I figured there was no harm in heading to the dining hall now. Besides, it would probably keep my mind off the jester’s words...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for anyone wondering, this Act was basically free time events. Unlike in the games, the free time events will have a bit of impact on the story, as since this is an actual story and not a visual novel, there aren't any alternate events.
> 
> The first half of the next Act will also be a free time event, while the second half is when things get juicy...


	6. Chapter 1: And so it begins. Act 2

**Chapter 1: And so it begins**

**Act 2**

Entering the cafeteria, I was assaulted with the thick, delicious smells drifting from the kitchen. Through the open window I could see Hank was dicing up vegetables, while Anthony nervously sirred a pot, afraid as if it would explode or something… given who I was surrounded by, that might have been a valid concern. 

Looking around the room, I saw none other than Jenny Echefort sitting at one of the tables, staring at her phone with a disappointed expression. Seeing as no one else was in the room, I sat beside the Blunette, “Are you ok?” 

“Oh…” She apparently hadn’t noticed me, “I’m fine it’s just… I know we already checked but, no bars…” 

She showed me her phone screen, the background being her holding a kitten. Just like with Mari’s laptop, my phone, and every other of our electronic devices we had checked, no signal.

“Looks like this place doesn’t have cellphone reception…” I sighed, “I’m Alice. We never actually introduced ourselves.” 

“I’m pretty sure you know who I am… and my ridiculous Ultimate title,” Jenny sighed, “Seriously, it isn’t even a talent, I have it because I’m visually appealing…” 

Was… that supposed to be complaining about how attractive she was? Sure, she was a little easy on the eyes, but is that something to dislike? 

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love that it doesn’t take much for me to look good, I just wish my “Ultimate Talent” wasn’t just being pretty,” Jenny continued, “What about you, you get saddled with anything?” 

“Well… I’m not officially an Ultimate, but I have been called a medical prodigy more than once,” I replied. 

“Now see,  _ that _ is a good talent! You get to help save lives while all I'll get to do is convince people to buy expensive clothes and make-up,” Jenny said, “Uh… sorry for dumping that on you. I don’t get to vent to many people because it’s ‘Bad for my brand.’”

“I mean… I’m no therapist, but I guess telling people what’s bothering you is better than keeping to yourself,” I said. True, I was a little uncomfortable talking about this with someone I had just met, “Besides, I’m sure once you’re older you could get any job you want.” 

“I doubt it, since my title is public knowledge I’m probably gonna get turned down by anything that  _ isn’t _ fashion related,” the blunette model sighed, a grim though came to her mind, “And that’s if I even live that long.”

That of course brought my mind back to what the jester had said, “ _ I gotta feeling the killing will start very soon! _ ” 

“Do- Don’t say that,” I said, “No one’s died yet. And besides, do you really think no one would notice  _ you _ going missing? We’ll be found eventually!”

“Heh… Guess my stupid talent is gonna pay off for once,” Jenny gave a small laugh, “Alice, right?” 

I gave a nod, “Pleasure to meet you.” 

“Not bad meeting you either,” Jenny grinned, “So… what do you think the deal with these cameras is?” 

Her words drew my attention toward the many surveillance cameras. I had barely noticed before, but looking back on it, yes there was at least one in every room...

“You don’t think…” I started, “Is this how she’s monitoring us?”

“And probably broadcasting us,” Theo said sitting down at the table. 

“Hey… you weren’t at the meeting earlier…” Jenny said. 

“I was gathering information,” Theo replied, “I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not die on live T.V.”

“What are you saying?” I asked. Almost nothing about him was making sense. He clearly had an understanding of what was at play, but had refused to speak to anyone.

“You can’t tell me you’ve never seen it,” He said, getting nothing but a stare from both Jenny and I. He groaned, “The Killing school Life, the original killing game. 16 highschoolers who just happened to be ultimates are forced to kill each other to escape a school, the results are broadcasted for the world to see. Sound familiar?”

“That’s just like our situation…” I realized his point.

“I take it you've seen it?” Jenny asked.

“Tih, everyone in my family’s seen it,” He said simply, “All I know, is that whoever the Jester really is, she’s copying Junko Enoshima. Which means, when the killing starts, people will know.”

“Junko Enoshima…” Jenny and I said at the same time. That one didn’t need an explanation, practically everyone knew who that wicked woman was. 

As the self proclaimed, Ultimate Despair, she had somehow brought upon the apocalypse. Exploiting the talents of a number of her fellow ultimates(though the full list was unknown, she definitely manipulated the Ultimate Animator, Soldier, and Neurologist), she had somehow made the world obsessed with despair. Junko struck without warning, and leveled civilization to the ground, turning the world into an all against all dogfight. 

It was only after she committed suicide, and her most powerful followers apprehended, did the world begin to heal. Society had been mostly reformed, though some countries were better than others in that regard. But still, to everyone who had been alive in Junko’s lifetime… lets just say therapists got a lot of work.

Twenty years later, Humanity had finally gotten back on track. Killing games had been outlawed most of the world over, it seemed as though the storm had finally ended.

“I can say this much… whoever’s doing this has to be an Ultimate Despair,” Theo said, “They’re the only ones who would dare copy that maniac’s style.” 

“But that’s impossible, all the Ultimate Despair members are either dead or rehabilitated,” I protested. This was beginning to sound crazy. 

“That we know of…” Theo said. Getting up, “All I’m saying, watch your back. You just might lose it if you aren’t careful.” 

“... What an asshole,” Jenny said in a deadpanned tone. 

“He has a point…” I spoke, voice filled with dread.

“Look, I may not know anyone here, but I doubt any of us are gonna kill anyone,” Jenny said nonchalantly, “Think about it, even if the Jester lets us go for getting away with it, won’t the police ask questions? After that it’s all downhill for whoever was dumb enough to actually do it.” 

“ _ She’s right _ ,” I had told myself. Even if we could fool each other, the second we made it home and the police and press got involved, it’d be all over. 

After that bit of assurance, we were able to move to much lighter conversation. As we talked, more people began coming into the room. Soon, Lincoln sat down next to us.

“Heya, ladies!” He said, his cheery demeanor had apparently returned, “What we talkin bout?” 

“Jenny was just… describing the fashion industry to me,” I half lied. It was more like she was ranting about how hard modeling really was, and how annoying her agent was.

“Hey, you’re the Joybuzzer kid!” Jenny said. Evidently, she was one of the others who had fallen for his little trick.

“Hey, hey, I was just trying to lighten the mood. To be honest, the last thing we need is to panic,” He explained, a bit of a nervous look in his eyes. 

“I mean, we’re being held against our will by a homicidal maniac in a clown suit, but sure, let’s joke around,” The blunette said, her voice thick with sarcasm.

“Uh..” It was about here that lincoln realised he’d run himself into an awkward situation. Thankfully for him, his saving grace came from yelling of someone entering the room. 

“Like, why are you whining about it, I already knew,” Erin said to a fuming Mari.

“Do you have any idea how much trouble you could have put me in!? It wasn’t  _ your  _ secret to tell!” The black haired girl yelled, her voice cracking a bit, she bit her lip, “Who  _ exactly _ did you tell?!”

“Ugh, Don’t worry about it, I won’t tell anyone else,” Erin groaned before walking off to sit somewhere. 

Mari mumbled something under her breath before coming to sit by us, taking her laptop from her backpack. He began to type with a scowl still on her face.

“What was that about?” Jenny asked. 

“Not sure…” Lincoln said, “To be honest Erin’s always been able to get under Mari’s skin.”

“She’s a menace,” The author groaned in agreeance, “You can’t just go and spread confidential information like that just because you want to.” 

“Wait, are you talking about… Oh… that’s what she did,” Lincoln said, giving her a knowing look. 

“Yes. How could she put me at risk like that! It’s not like it’s any of her business,” Mari ranted. I looked at them in confusion.

“Um… Care to let us in?” Jenny spoke up, wondering the same thing I was, “What’s this big, concerning secret about?” 

“None of your business,” Mari shot her down, “The only reason Lincoln and Erin know, is because I actually know them.” 

“Yeah, it’s not really that important,” Lincoln said, “Least not in this scenario.”

“Can we please change the topic?” Mari asked, looking up from her screen. 

“We could discuss who’s gonna be the first to snap!” The voice of the Jester instantly caught our attention. Our gaze shifted to the edge of the table where the black and blue clad woman sat.

“What the!? Where do you keep coming from!” Jenny screamed at our captor’s arrival. 

“You know, around!” The jester laughed, dodging the question. 

“What do you want!” Mari yelled, her anger now having a target. Our reactions got the attention of the others within the room, who all turned in our direction.

“Well… Since the Jester is such a nice lady, she decided to give you a hint on who the first killer will be!” The jester cheered. 

“First killer…” a number of us said at once. 

“But… you don’t mean..” I didn’t want to believe her. Surely none of us had killed this early. 

“Oh, no. They haven’t killed anyone… Yet,” The jester’s tone turned sinister, “But they’re going to. I saw them preparing.”

A grim look fell upon our faces as she cackled with glee.

“Of course, I won’t say who they are, or who they're aiming to kill…” The wicked woman continued, “But, in order to make the game a little more fair, I decided I would reveal their motive to you all!” 

“Motive…” Lincoln repeated, “But you said it yourself, the motive was getting out of here!”

“Well, that’s half the motive anyway…” The Jester giggled.

“Then what’s the other half?” Theo spoke up, staring daggers at the woman. 

“Hey, hey, Not everyone is here yet! What would be the point of giving you this hint if half of you never hear it?” The Jester said, leaning in her chair. She took a thermos from beneath her skirt and put a straw into it. The straw fit into a small, almost unnoticeable hole in her mask, which seemed to be there so she could drink and still keep up appearances. 

As she slurped up red liquid(Which was visible through the straw), it became clear she wasn’t saying anything else. 

We continued to keep our eyes on her as more entered the cafeteria. Daniel, Alyssa and Serina quickly noticed her presence, but elected to join the group and await an explanation. 

Both Timebomb and Martha were quick to make threats towards her, but were disappointed when she didn’t answer, or even acknowledge their arrival. Eventually, they gave up and sat down.

The last two to enter were Will and Randal. The latter of whom sat by himself at one of the tables, not making eye contact with the rest of us.

“Sorry I’m late,” Will said sitting next to me, “Was taking a quick cat nap, lost track of time.” 

“What is the meaning of the Jester’s appearance?” Serina asked. 

The Jester leaped onto the table, causing us all to flinch at the sudden movement, “I’ll tell you!” 

She cackled, making us all uneasy. All eyes were on her, even those of us in the kitchen were closely watching her movements.

“One of you is already preparing to kill another,” She announced throughout the dining hall, using a surprisingly mature tone. Unknown to us, she was grinning at the looks of dread on our faces, “I have decided to tell you this individual’s motive. Ahem.” 

She paused for a moment, seemingly gathering her thoughts.

“The killer is one whose future is quite bright, Destined to bask in stardom’s light. Fame and fortune are in their fate, so for their freedom, they simply can’t wait. To find their identity, your only clue, they prefer the original to the new. Who’s the killer to start this show? Solve my riddle, and you will know,” The Jester finished with a bow. 

“T-that's it!?” Jenny shouted. 

“Of course she wouldn’t give us a straight answer,” Mari sighed. 

“Anywho, the Jester will go now. All you need to find the killer is in my riddle,” The jester said, “Enjoy your meal!” 

She skipped out the door, doing a childish twirl as she left our sight.

“Nothing about the bitch make’s any fucking sense!” Timebomb yelled in rage. He seemed like he was about to go ballistic, but Hank, who had left the kitchen, put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Calm down, man. She’s just trying to fuck with us,” He tiredly said. 

The red head groan before saying, “Yeah… you’re probably right.” 

“Well…” Anthony said as he also left the kitchen, “Lets not let her words put a damper on our mood.” 

Angela burst out of the kitchen pushing a cart piled with food, “DINNER IS SERVED!” 

She pushed it to one of the tables no one was seated at, and began transferring its contents to it. As she did Anthony brought out plates and silverware, as Hank began taking the lids of the pots and pans, revealing the italian cuisine they had prepared! Delectable looking noodles of multiple varieties, along with more than enough tomato and alfredo sauce to go around. There were a few trays that had breadsticks and garlic bread, as well as a small selection of salads. 

Upon seeing the food, we all realized just how hungry we were. 

“Welp, dig in!” Angela said wheeling the cart back to the kitchen. All of us quickly began dishing ourselves up, taking in the delicious smells as we brought our plates to our tables. I took a bite of my plate of spaghetti, my senses became overwhelmed by the flavor infused in this forkful of noodles and sauce. 

“This is delicious!” I exclaimed. 

“Yummy!” Jenny said in agreement. 

“Ya outdid yourself, Hanky!” Timebomb playfully punched his friend in the shoulder, who just stuck his tongue out in response. 

I noticed that Theo was walking way for some reason, a plate of food in his hand. 

“Where are you going?” I asked. 

“My room. We know for sure, there’s a killer among us. I’m not about to take any chances,” He answered before leaving the room. Rather than let his words get to me, I simply shrugged it off and rejoined the rest of the group in eating. 

After feasting, talking and joking, I learned much about my fellow captives. Daniel and Mari talked with each other about their lives as the oldest siblings of their families, joking about how crazy it drove them. 

Lincoln, evidently, was an aspiring comedian, who offered to give us his stand-up comedy routine... which was almost entirely dad-jokes. A number of only groaned in response, but how proud of himself he sounded pried a laugh out of most of us. 

Eventually, all our conversation was interrupted by a familiar bell sound. After which, the nearest screen once again sprung to life. This time, however, instead of a static image, it showed a clear image of the Jester, reclining in an office, with a red drink in her hand. 

“ _ Ahem, Attention students, it is now 10 p.m. Please return to your rooms for the night, _ ” Her image said, “ _ Good night, everyone~! _ ” 

After the screen turned off, the lights soon went with them, leaving the kitchen the only place left illuminating the room.

“Night already?” Mari questioned, the light of her laptop making her face visible.

“Guess we lost track of time,” Daniel said.

“Uh… You all head to bed,” Anthony said, seeming a little frightened by the sudden lack of light, “Angela and I will stay and clean up… If that’s alright with you.”

“Of course,” Angela happily replied. 

“Alright, don’t take too long,” Serina nodded, before turning to the rest of us, “The rest of us will proceed to the dorm rooms in an orderly fashion. Everyone is to depart together to ensure no one is lost in the darkness. We will meet back here at 8 a.m. tomorrow, agreed?”

Most of us nodded, and at the very least we could see her point. She took out her cellphone, turning on it’s flashlight function as she began to lead us down the hallway. Everyone was silent, our footsteps were the only sound we could hear in the eerie darkness.

When we reached our dorms, everyone retreated to their rooms immediately, not saying a word to each other. After entering my own room, I moved toward my bed, noticing a dresser beside it. After opening it to check, I was surprised to find enough spare clothes to last me a few weeks. 

After changing into a nightgown, I laid down in the bed. It most definitely was comfortable, I recall drifting to sleep quite easily. Although, in the middle of the night, I could have sworn I heard the faint sound of something knocking against something, but I was too sleepy to care.

When I awoke the next morning, it was a bit after seven. I changed into some clean clothes, and made my way to the cafeteria. 

Serina, Will, Martha, and Alyssa were the first to get there, which made decent sense. Soon after I arrived, Daniel, Mari, Anthony and Angela came along. Timebomb and Hank came together soon after, and the last to arrive were Theo, Lincoln, Jenny and Randal. Noticeably, Erin never came in.

“Where is… Erin at?” Lincoln asked looking around the room. 

“Maybe that airhead slept in?” Will suggested. 

“If that is the case, I will go wake her,” Serina said, walking toward the door, “Would anyone care to come with. If there really is a killer among us, it would be unsafe to go alone.” 

“I’ll go,” I volunteered to come. 

Serina nodded as we departed back to the dorms. 

I hadn’t heard it, but Theo had muttered, “You’re wasting your time.” 

About halfway to the dorms, I stopped in front of the restroom, “Wait a minute, I uh… need to go.” 

“Hmm,” Serina almost questioned, but noticed the sign, “I see, make it quick.” 

I nodded and entered the girls bathroom, immediately upon entering, I was assaulted by a thick, disgusting smell. Based on my lessons from Med. School, I recognised the stench… blood. I turned the corner to see the main room, a gruesome sight laid right in the middle. 

Limbed against the wall, Erin laid covered in blood, multiple tears in her stained clothing. A black handle sticking out of her stomach. I let out a scream. 

Soon after, Serina came running into the room, “What happened, are you o-” 

Her eyes went wide as she saw the broadcaster's dead body. She went pale as she took a step back. 

  
Suddenly, we heard the announcement bells ring, as a nearby monitor turned on, showing the jester’s image, “ _ A body has been discovered! _ ”


	7. Chapter 1: And so it begins. Act 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer, I am not a medical professional, so I am sorry if this, or any of Alice's autopsies in the future are inaccurate.

**Chapter 1: And so it begins**

**Act 3**

“ _ Now, after a certain amount of time, the class trial will begin! Spend this time however you like… _ ” The jester continued, “ _ but you might wanna investigate if you value your lives! _ ”

The image cut out. It had really happened… I didn’t want to believe it, but right in front of me, Erin laid dead on the floor. I felt woozy, my head spinning at the realization that someone had truly killed her.

“There… really is a killer among us…” Serina choked on the words, she bit her lip to get a hold of herself, “Alice, We need to tell the others.” 

I nodded as we bolted down the hall, the others apparently had heard the announcement as well, and met us halfway. 

“What happened, what was that announcement about!?” Alyssa was the first to speak. 

“It’s Erin… she’s dead…” Serina forced an answer. 

Everyone else went pale in the face, the shocked look in their eyes quite visible. Even Theo, who remained neutral, seemed to wear a sad expression. The rest of the group followed us to the bathroom where we found the body, their horrified expressions increased as they laid their eyes on the corpse. Lincoln looked as if he would puke, while Angela hid her face in Anthony's chest.

Will’s face went red with anger, he turned to Mari and yelled, “IT WAS YOU, WASN’T IT!” 

“ME?!” The author’s voice cracked, “Why are you going after me!?”

“You hated her! You spent the entire time here arguing with her!” the runner accused. 

“Yes, we hated each other, but I didn’t kill her!” Mari said in defense. 

“S-She’s right!” Lincoln said getting between them, “I’ve known Mari since grade school, she wouldn’t do something like this!” 

“Well  _ Someone _ had to have killed her!” Timebomb shouted. 

“And it wasn’t me!” Mari yelled.

“Can you all be quiet?!” Theo yelled, getting all of our attention, “Look, we don’t know who the killer is, but that doesn’t mean we should turn on each other like a bunch of rabid dogs.” 

Serina nodded, “He’s right, we must hold a proper investigation.” 

“Glad to see someone here has common sense,” Theo grumbled, “Serina and Alice, stay here and help me investigate the body, we need to figure out how and when she di-” “The Jester can help with that!”

The group split in half to reveal the Jester had once again appeared from seemingly nowhere. 

“Geeze, I knew a killing was coming, but you guys seriously didn’t last a day?” She said as she skipped to the middle of the room, “Oh well, the early bird gets the worm!” 

“What the hell do you want?!” Timebomb shouted. 

“Why, do give you this! The Jester Files!” The Jester exclaimed, taking out a tablet. Labeled on the back was a scribbled over word that had a poorly written “Jester” on top, and a neat, printed “File” on the bottom. She pressed a button, which caused all of our watches to ping, as if we had received text messages, “The Jester sent all of you a detailed report of exactly  _ how _ the victim died. It’s up to you all to piece the clues together to find the killer. Good luck everyone! You’ll need it!” 

She cackled before taking her leave, just as quickly as she disappeared.

Almost instinctively, we all went to our watches to see the file she had sent us. Just as she said, the file detailed Erin’s death: 

“ _ The victim is the Ultimate Broadcastor, Erin weathers. _

_ The Victim's body was found in the first floor girl’s bathroom, the time of death was around 12:30 a.m.  _

_ Cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the stomach and lower chest area, caused by a steel pen taken from the Ultimate Author’s Lab. _ ” 

“That tears it, Mari was the killer!” Will said as he finished reading, “The weapon was from her ultimate lab.” 

“IT WASN’T ME!” Mari’s voice cracked as she yelled, “You gotta believe me, someone is setting me up!” 

“Shut up both of you,” Theo yelled, getting their attention, “As it stands, Mari, you do seem like the most likely suspect, that may change as we get more evidence, but regardless I’d like you to stay in your room while we investigate.” 

“But it wasn’t me!” the goth girl pleaded. 

“I’m not saying it was, but it’s best that right now, you stay in one place,” Theo said, “Martha, Daniel, I’d like you to make sure she doesn’t leave her room, and no one enters it after her.” 

“Course,” Martha nodded, taking Mari’s hand, “Let’s go, little missy.” 

The bull rider dragged her out of the room, Daniel following behind.

“Alice,” Theo addressed me, “Do you think you can do an autopsy? I don’t think the Jester’s information is trustworthy.”

“I can’t do much without the proper equipment… but I should be able to at least tell when and how she died,” I said. 

“That will do,” The black teen replied, he turned to everyone else, “Serina will help investigate since she was one of the two to find the body. Everyone else, stay out of the way, but stay where we can find you. I’ll be asking everyone what they were doing when the murder occured.” 

No one objected, if anything it seemed like they were itching to get out of the room anyhow. Of course, very few people  _ want  _ to be in a room with a corpse. 

I went right to work examining the body. Looking at Erin’s wounds, it was definite she had died from bleeding out. I pulled up her shirt to get a better look, from what I could tell she had been stabbed at least nine times. Most the cuts weren’t very deep, implying this had been a rushed job, only two or three of the wounds damaged anything vitel, the rest would have been survivable had she gotten treatment. 

Lodged in one of the fatal wounds was a black pen covered in dried blood. Pulling it out, it seemed to match the diameter of the other wounds. It was most definitely the murder weapon.

I set the pen to the side, then began examining other parts of her body. One thing I noticed was marking on her next, from the look of it, she had been strangled, “This is odd…” 

“What is it?” Theo asked. 

“There’s hand marks on her neck, like the killer was using one arm to hold her down, while stabbing with the other,” I explained.

“So the killer was likely physically stronger than her,” The teen nodded, “What about time of death?” 

“Based on the dried blood, as well as how fresh these wounds are… I’d say she’s been dead for a little less than nine hours,” I answered. 

Theo looked at the clock in the bathroom, “it’s 8:37 now, which puts her death sometime between 11:30 and 12:30.”

“Just like the file said,” Serina spoke up. 

“Guess for once she was being honest with us,” I said, as something caught my eye. In Erin’s hand was a small, metal ring, “What is this?” 

Serina came to take a look, “I’d guess she pulled it off her killer in an attempt to fight back.” 

“But what is it?” I wondered. That seemed to be the last peculiar thing about the body itself. But I did notice that in the pool of blood beneath her, there seemed to be a footprint, “Looks like the killer stepped in the blood.” 

“Most definitely,” Theo agreed, “There’s footprints leading to the door.” 

He followed them to the exit of the room, upon opening the door, he continued, “Looks like they end in the hallway. I’d guess the killer didn’t even notice they stepped in it.” 

“Well… I don’t think I’ll get much else from the body,” I said, “we could dust the weapon for fingerprints, but I doubt we have the equipment.”

“Next we’ll go to Mari’s ultimate lab, make sure we know that’s where the weapon came from,” Theo said as he left the room. Serina and I followed after she insisted I wash my hands.

After a short walk to the Ultimate lab, we began searching the desk, particularly all the cups filled with pens and pencils. 

Serina searched through one of the cups, “Look at this!” 

She pulled out a black, metal pen. Nearly identical to the one used in the murder.

“So… the jester was being completely transparent about the evidence with us…” Theo said, “Odd…” 

“It seems she wants us to at least have a fighting chance at survival…” Serina said, “So then, I recommend we question Mari next, after that we should search both her room and Erin’s.” 

“If no more evidence is brought up there, we interrogate everyone else, then see what checks out,” Theo said. 

We all turned to leave the room, but when I opened the door, Lincoln was on the other side. 

“Oh… I was just looking for you guys,” His nervous eye’s betrayed the smile on his face. It was clear he was trying to stay calm. 

“Did you find something?” I asked him. 

“Well… no. I just wanted to give my account before anything else…” He said, twiddling his thumbs, “Mari didn’t do it. I’ve known her most my life, and nothing about this seems like it’d be her.” 

“What makes you say that?” Theo questioned. 

“Mari is a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them,” Lincoln said, “If this was her, she wouldn’t have left the weapon with the body… heck, she wouldn’t have even used a pen, she would have used something a lot more effective.”

“Your point, being?” Theo pressed further. 

“If Mari was going to kill someone, she would have done everything in her power to make it look like someone else did it,” The comedian mathlete said, “She wouldn’t have let it be so easy to figure out it was her.” 

We looked at each other. Based on the sincerity in Lincoln’s voice, none of us thought he was lying. 

“We’ll take this into consideration,” Serina said. 

Lincoln looked like he wanted to say more, but he just walked out of the way, allowing us to pass. After this, we all departed for the dorm rooms. 

“Let’s see if Erin’s room has any clues to who could have killed her,” Theo said as he came to her door. He tried to open it, only to find it was locked, “Ugh, right. We need her watch to open it…”

“Not to worry!” We all jumped back in surprise as the Jester made her presence known.

“WOULD YOU STOP DOING THAT!” Theo yelled. It was clearly beginning to get on his nerves. 

The Jester took out her tablet and pressed a button. Soon after, Erin’s bedroom door unlocked, “The Jester has master control over all electronic locks in the school! Hehe.” 

“So you can just enter our rooms whenever you want?” I asked, now nervous. 

“Yep! Better learn to sleep with one eye open~!” The Jester cackled, “So, did any of you kids solve the Jester’s riddle?” 

I hadn’t even thought about it. After the night we had and finding Erin’s body, the clue our captor had given us had completely slipped my mind. 

“I’ve got a hunch,” Theo answered before walking into Erin's room.

I followed after him, getting a good look at the room. Decoration wise it was the same as mine, however the bed hadn’t been made and there were papers and magazines on the desk. 

“Look for anything that may seem like a clue,” Theo said as he proceeded to look through her drawers. 

My first instinct was to check the desk. The Magazines were most definitely odd. Not only were they twenty years out of date, but a fair bit of them showcased Junko Enoshima back in her modeling days. This of course made no sense as almost no one still held that woman in any high regard. I had to guess, the Jester had them because she was a Junko fangirl. 

Underneath the magazines, however, was something far more interesting. A neat, handwritten note was folded up at the bottom of the stack. I opened it up and mentally read it; 

“ _ Dear Erin.  _

_ I want to make amends. I’m sorry we haven't been able to get along, I’d like to change that. Meet me in the girl’s bathroom at midnight, after everyone’s gone to bed. _

_ Mari. _ ” 

“I think I found out why Erin was in the bathroom at midnight,” I said. 

Serina came over to me and read the note, “This is like a signed confession.” 

“Seems so…” Theo said, though he had a skeptical look about it, “next lets check Mari’s room for anything incriminating, then we’ll hear her side of the story.” 

The three of us exited the room, then went down the hall to Mari’s room, which was right next to mine. Upon seeing us, Martha, who’d been standing watch with Daniel, knocked on the door.

“Ya got visitors,” She said. 

We heard the door unlocking, which was soon opened by Mari, and scowl on her face, “you gonna check my room?” 

Theo nodded, and she opened the door all the way. 

“Go ahead,” the goth sighed, “But I’m telling you, it wasn’t me.” 

Theo first checked the hamper, looking to see if she had any bloodstained clothes. After finding none, he moved to her desk to look for anything else. He picked up a piece of paper, on which seemed to be a drawing of some kind of anime character, with scribbled words that were impossible to read next to it. 

“You draw this?” He asked. 

“Part of my process,” Mari replied, “I always sketch out my characters before I start writing. Helps me get a feel for their personalities… Sorry bout my crappy handwriting.” 

We continued searching. Finding no real evidence to link Mari to the murder, until I found something in her trash. It was a crumpled up note, with the same handwriting as the note I found in Erin’s room: 

“ _ Dear Mari,  _

_ I want to make amends. I’m sorry we haven't been able to get along, I’d like to change that. Meet me in the girl’s bathroom after 12:30, after everyone’s gone to bed. _

_ Erin. _ ” 

They had said the exact same thing, the only difference was the time. The gears in my head started turning, a theory was beginning to develop in my mind. 

“So what were you doing when the murder accure?” Serina asked the goth author.

“Sleeping… at least I was til about one in the morning,” Mari answered simply. 

“What happened then?” Theo questioned. 

“I got woken up by someone banging on the door. I figured someone was trying to get in so I stayed put,” Mari replied, “thank god I had my door locked. Else I might’a ended up just like Erin…” 

“Hmmm… I do believe I heard a brief banging noise last night,” Serina suggested, “My room is next door, so it may have been loud enough for me to hear it.”

“You too?” I said, getting their attention, “I thought I was just hearing things.” 

Theo put his hand to his chin, “it seems you might actually have an alibi then…” 

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the announcement bell, soon after, the monitor in Mari’s room turned on, revealing the Jester’s image, “ _ Time’s up, everybody! Please proceed to the Jester Door on the first floor to participate in the Class Trial! The directions are in your watches. _ ”

We all received another notification from our watches, this time showing a part of the map lit up red. 

“Well… no point in putting it off..” Theo said leaving the room. 

“Easy for you to say…” Mari sighed, following him. 

Everyone made their way to the designated area, which was a single, one way hallway which led to a big, double door, decorated with the Jester’s mask. 

When all fifteen of us had arrived, the doors swung open, revealing an elevator on the inside.

“Does she really expect us to go in there?” Randal scoffed. 

The monitor closest to him turned on, showing the Jester, this time sitting atop a throne, “ _ Attendance is mandatory! _ ” 

The screen shut off as he muttered, “of fucking course.” 

With that, we all filed into the elevator, the doors closed once all of us had entered. Soon we felt the floor beneath our feet begin to sink. A few of us grew queasy as we descended beneath the school.

As we sunk deeper, so did our hearts, as we all came to a realization, there was no denying it now… a killer was among us.

After what felt like years, the elevator stopped and the doors opened, revealing to us a circular room modeled after a courtroom. A red carpet led to a circle of sixteen desks. Behind the circle, The jester sat atop a throne overlooking the room, fiddling with a gavel in her hand.

“Welcome to the Class trial! Please take your seats, anywhere you want!” She said as we entered the room. When I approached one of the desks, I noticed that behind one of them, a picture of Erin was perched on a pole. The Jester continued, “Oh, you noticed? The jester thought it unfair that the victim couldn’t attend, so I set up a little memorial.”

Memorial… it finally sunk in. Erin Weathers, the Ultimate Broadcaster, was dead… The killer was one of us… And I was going to find them…


	8. Chapter 1: And so it begins. Class Trial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, this chapter features an onscreen execution, now's you chance to jump of this train.

**Chapter 1: and so it begins**

**Act four.**

  
  


**Class Trial: ALL RISE!**

“Alright, kiddos, Let’s begin with a brief explanation of how the Class Trial works. Listen up, cause I’m only gonna say this once,” The Jester spoke up, “Throughout the trial, everyone will provide evidence on who they think the killer is. At the end of the trial, you will vote who is the guilty party. If you vote correctly, the killer will be punished. However, anyone who votes incorrectly will be punished as well, and if everyone votes incorrectly, only the killer will go free!” 

“Wait… What do you mean when you say ‘punished?’” Daniel asked with a worried expression. 

“Don’t worry about it…” The Jester giggled, “Anywho, No one is allowed to leave this room until we reach a verdict, so without further adieu, let’s hear our opening arguments!” 

“Alright then, lets begin with how the victim died,” Theo said, folding his arms. 

“Simple,” Will said, “Mari stabbed her to death with a pen, case closed.”

“I keep telling you, IT WASN’T ME!” Mari yelled at him, her voice cracking a bit. 

“How about before we start assuming who  _ Could _ have done it, lets figure out who couldn’t have done it,” Theo said, before turning to me, “Alice, our investigation showed that the killer did leave behind one major clue that narrows down our search.” 

I was a little surprised he wanted me to tell them, he seemed to be the one to figure this all out. I took a deep breath, before thinking back to the crime scene, what could he be referring to? Then it hit me, “The footprints, right?” 

“Bingo, the killer accidentally stepped in some of the victim’s blood. While it doesn’t tell us who they were, it does reveal what they were wearing,” Theo explained, “Sneakers.

“Sneakers?!” Everyone said in surprise. 

“The footprints tell that whoever the killer is, they were wearing sneakers at the time,” Theo said, “thus, we can rule out anyone wearing a different kind of shoe.”

“Which means I’m in the clear, I’m wearing flats!” Mari exclaimed.

“Based on this logic, Anthony, Thomas-” Serina started, only for the redhead to cut her off, “Timebomb!” 

“Ugh, Anthony,  _ Timebomb _ , Alice, Mari, Jenny, and myself are removed from possible suspects,” Serina finished. 

“Seriously?!” Will said, “That doesn’t prove anything, the killer could have changed shoes between then and now! I still think it was Mari, afterall, the weapon came from her ultimate lab!” 

“What do you have against me?!” The author questioned, “What’d I do to you, man?”

“You had a motive to kill her. You hate her, and you wanted to get out of here and go to your dream school! You just killed two birds with one stone,” The runner accused her. 

“We all want out of here, what makes you think it was her?” Jenny asked. 

“Simple,” Will answered, “She was the only one who could have gotten into the ultimate lab to get the murder weapon!” 

As he said those words, I realised what he was saying was false. 

“No, that’s wrong!” I shouted, causing him to take a step back in surprise, “The only reason it was called  _ Mari’s _ Ultimate lab, is because it was specifically designed with her in mind. Technically, anyone can enter the room if they want to.”

“She’s right, We went in there while we were investigating,” Theo nodded, “Anyone could have gone in there and grab that pen.”

“See? It wasn’t me,” Mari said, a satisfied look on her face.

“You aren’t in the clear, yet,” Serina spoke up, “While we were investigating Erin’s dorm room, we found a note  _ You _ signed, telling her to meet you in the bathroom at midnight.” 

“A note…?” The author said skeptically. 

Serina pulled the paper in question from her pocket, “The not reads: ‘Dear Erin, I want to make amends. I am so sorry we haven’t been able to get along, meet me in the girls bathroom at midnight, after everyone has gone to sleep. Mari.’” 

“Wait a minute…” Mari said, putting her hand to her chin.

“There we have it, we have a signed confession!” Will yelled, “Lets make with the vote before she kills someone else!” 

“It is hard to deny the evidence,” Serina sighed.

“That aint evidence,” Mari said in a deadpanned tone.

“What?” The referee asked. 

Will went red with anger, “What do you mean, ‘That's not evidence?!’ How is it not evidence?!”

“Simple,” Mari replied with a confident smirk, “I got a note  _ just  _ like it.” 

I thought back to the evidence we had gathered, she was right. Whoever made that not had sent her one as well!

“She’s telling the truth!” I exclaimed, getting everyone's attention. I took out the note that I had pocketed earlier, “Look, Mari had received a note that was almost exactly the same as the one in Erin’s room. The only difference, was it said to meet in the bathroom at 12:30.” 

“The time of the murder!” Daniel said in realization. 

“Bingo! Somebody slipped that note under my door after we all went to our rooms,” Mari spoke up, “Obviously, I wasn’t dumb enough to go listen to a note from someone I hate, to go to a random room in the middle of the night with a killer on the loose. So, I crumpled it up and threw it away.” 

“And how do we know you didn’t write them both!” Will said again, “You could have planted it there to draw away suspicion!” 

“Oi vey, what is with you, dude? I can disprove that one in one sentence,” The arthur rubbed her temple, “Neither note could have been written by me, because my handwriting isn’t that neat!”

“She’s right,” Theo said, “all over her desk were sketches of characters in her books...” 

Mari took one such sketch from her backpack.

“I always write a brief character bio next to them,” She held the sketch next to the note Serina had, “Compared to whoever wrote this note, my handwriting is completely illegible! Why’d ya think I only write on my laptop.”

“I believe this is sufficient evidence to say, Mari was not the one to lore Erin to the bathroom,” Serina nodded. 

“That’s what i’ve been telling ya!” The goth girl sighed in relief. 

“However this evidence also reveals two things…” Theo spoke up, getting our attention, “One, the killer went through great lengths to make it look like Mari was guilty. And two, if the killer sent Mari a not to meet in the same place where they killed Erin…” 

“Then that means…” Lincoln started. 

“They were planning to do her in too!” Jenny finished his thought with a shout. 

“Guess being an antisocial bitch saved your tail,” Randal let out a laugh. 

“Fuck you dude,” was all Mari could reply with.

“Ok, so now we know fur sure that it wasn’ Mari,” Martha stated, “But that still leaves sixteen a’ us who coulda done the deed.” 

“Well…” The goth girl in question started, “If the killer was planning on offing me, I think I might know why they chose to kill Erin first.”

“Wait wait wait,” Alyssa spoke up, “you know their motive?”

“Why didn’t you say anything?!” Timebomb yelled. 

“No, I don't know why they killed. I know why they specifically chose to kill  _ Erin _ ,” the author clarified.

“Which is?” Randal asked, seemingly impatient for an answer.

“It’s… the same reason I was so mad at her during dinner,” Mari sighed. The look on her face conveyed hesitancy, She seemed to shake it off and said, “I’m trans.” 

An awkward silence fell upon us all. If any of us had expected her to say something, it definitely wasn’t that. The only one of us who didn’t look dumbfounded was Lincoln, who didn’t even react to the news.

“I’m sorry… but what does your gender identity have to do with this?” Serina asked. 

Mari gave her a look, “ _ Because _ I am trans, out of anyone here, I’d be the one people would want to off the most.” 

“Explain,” Hank said bluntly. 

“Yeah,” Timebomb nodded in agreement, a weird look on his, “I mean, can’t speak for everyone, but  _ I’m _ not gonna kill ya just cause your LGBT. Hell, I’m gay.” 

“Dammit, it’s always the hot ones!” Jenny yelled, getting a weird look from some of us. 

“You guys seriously don’t know?” Mari asked, she groaned in annoyance.

“In over half the united states you can legally get away with killing a trans person, as long as your cis and claim you were shocked to learn their gender identity,” Lincoln said, “I wish I was joking, but i’m not.” 

“I get it,” Jenny said in realization, the blunette explained, “Even if the Jester let us go for killing someone, they’d still have to face the cops afterward.” 

“They’d be trading one prison for another,” Daniel said. 

“But if someone killed me, they could bypass that and get off scot free,” Mari explained, “Because of that, I kept my little secret on the downlow. The only people who knew were Lincoln and Erin, since they knew me prior.” 

“I agreed to keep quiet, Mari and I have been friends for a while, and I didn’t want to see her hurt,” Lincoln added. 

“Just before dinner, I confronted Erin to try and convince her not to tell anyone,” The goth girl continued, “But by the time I did, turns out she’d already slipped that bit of info to someone else, then refused to tell me who.” 

“I think I see where you’re going with this,” Theo said, folding his arms, “Whoever Erin told was likely aware they could play this to their advantage, thus they planned to murder Mari. However, whatever plan they could cook up would ultimately have one fatal flaw…”

“ _ Fatal flaw…? _ ” I thought over his words, it quickly clicked into place, “Erin herself! I the killer had murdered Mari, but not Erin, she’d be able to identify them!” 

“Since only three people knew my secret, even an airhead like her would be able to quickly figure out the killer,” Mari nodded. 

“Which is why the killer had to make an alteration to the plan,” Theo continued to explain, “If they were going to kill Mari, then Erin would have to go down with her.” 

“Which is why they sent those notes,” Serina spoke up, “Arranging a fake meeting between the two would allow the Killer to place their intended victims in a situation they could control, hence why the difference in the notes was the time.” 

“Of course, something didn’t go according to plan,” Theo said, “Since Mari didn’t fall for the false note, Only Erin showed up.” 

“And she got murdered, we get it!” Will yelled in frustration, “I hate to break it to ya, but all this only works based on taking Mari’s word or it.” 

“Are we seriously doing this again?” Alyssa asked. 

“Mari’s story checks out, the evidence supports that she almost bit the dust herself,” Daniel said. 

“She could’ve just planted that evidence!” The runner yelled. 

“And what about Lincoln’s testimony?” Serina asked him, “Are you putting forth the notion he’s lying on her behalf?” 

“Ergh, I DON’T KNOW!” Will yelled back, looking like he was about to pull his hair, “We don’t have any evidence that Mari stayed in her room!” 

That was wrong. We did in fact have evidence, because three people had given testimony to it. 

“You’re wrong!” I said, shooting through his words, “Mari was in her room when the murder accured, her testimony shows that she was asleep up until one o’clock. Afterwhich, someone tried to forcefully enter her room.” 

“Seriously, that’s still just taking her word for it!” Will yelled. 

“No it isn’t,” Serina disagreed, “both Alice and Myself heard the commotion. Our rooms are on either side of Mari’s, so if anyone tried to break the door down we would hear it.” 

“If this happened at one, it would be a half hour after the time the killer told Mari to meet with Erin,” I said, beginning to piece together a narrative for how the crime occurred. 

“I’d say the killer got impatient, and decided if Mari wouldn’t come to them, they’d go to Mari,” Theo added, “They woke Mari up, but she wasn’t dumb enough to let the killer in, thus they likely gave up after a while.”

“Call it a wild guess, But i’d say after offing me became a lost cause, they went back to make it look like I did the killing,” Mari suggested, adjusting her glasses.

“No, based on the evidence I’d say they meant to frame you from the start, likely make it look like a murder-suicide,” Theo shook his head. 

“Probably why they used a weapon we’d immediately associate with you,” Serina said, “thus even with you still alive, they’d still have a scapegoat.” 

“Oh boy!” The Jester squealed like a schoolgirl, “The jester can’t believe how exciting this first case is shaping up to be!”

“Ok, that’s all well and good, we have a decent idea of how Mari fit’s into this scheme…” Randal said, “But none of you idiots have actually gotten us any closer to finding out who the killer is.”

“Yes we have,” I said, “We can officially eliminate Mari as a suspect, and based on both her and Lincoln’s accounts he is likely innocent as well.” 

“Yes, two clear, 13 left, big whoop,” The cheer captain scoffed, “That’s still a pretty big suspects list.” 

“While he is rude, he’s also not wrong…” Alyssa sighed, “all of our discussion and only two of us have been cleared of suspicion.” 

“Don’t worry, I think I have a way we can narrow that list down,” Theo spoke up, looking to the Jester, “Last night, the jester gave us a clue as to the killer’s motive in the form of a riddle.”

“You’ve figured out what it means?” Angela asked. 

“I have a hunch,” The teen replied, “The entire time, the riddle stated that the killer had a bright future if they got out of here. Which leads me to believe that the killer is a  _ real  _ Ultimate.” 

Everyone let out a gasp. It most definitely made sense to me, The Jester’s riddle kept referring to fame and glory, and given everyone here, it made the most sense a few of us may have been official ultimates. 

“What sealed the deal for me was the line; ‘They prefer the original to the new,’” Theo continued, “given the riddle, this line seemingly makes no sense, unless you consider what this place is called…”

I instantly picked up what he was implying, “Hope’s peak! The killer is an ultimate that was accepted into the real Hope’s Peak Academy!”

“CORRECT!” The Jester cheered, “you guys are such smart kids! The killer amongst you  _ is _ in fact a future student of the prestigious Hope’s Peak Academy! The jester is very impressed, Theodore! Your mind must be as sharp as your aim!” 

“I thought so,” Theo smirked in satisfaction, he narrowed his eyes, “With that out of the way, we can narrow our search to anyone here who was admitted to Hope’s Peak Academy. From there we can pick through the remaining suspects and find our killer!” 

“Well, I got in as the Ultimate Author, but I’ve already proved my innocence,” Mari admitted, “Anyone else?” 

Serina raised her hand, “I recieved my acceptance letter mere weeks ago, I am officially called the Ultimate Referee.” 

“Ultimate Food Critique, naturally,” Anthony spoke up, “Of course I made it in.” 

“You guys already know, I’m the Ultimate Runway Model,” Jenny sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. 

“Ultimate Marksmen,” Theo finished, folding his arms once again, “Anyone else, or is it just us?”

Most the others simply Shook their heads. However, I knew this was wrong… Someone was lying, I’d heard them refer to themselves as an Ultimate… I just had to remember who… I looked around the room, thinking on who had said it, until my eyes had fallen on Will. I remembered what he had said to me when we met, “ _ That’s why they call me the Ultimate Free Runner, I do everything fast! _ ” 

“Wait a minute… Will is an Ultimate!” I shouted, “He said it himself when we met, he’s the Ultimate Freerunner!” 

“I, uh-” Will said nervously as eyes began to fall on him, “OK, FINE! Yes, I got into Hope's Peak, but I didn’t kill anyone I swear!”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Theo said with a suspicious look in his eyes, “Well then, not counting Mari, our possible suspects are Anthony, Serina, Jenny, Will, and myself…” 

In an instant our suspect list went from thirteen to five. The names he mentioned began to look nervous, knowing that now all eyes were on them. 

“Wait!” Angela spoke up, “Anthony has an Alibi, he was with me cleaning the kitchen remember!” 

“Oh thank you, Angela,” The chinese food critique sighed in relief, “Yes it is true, Miss Mari said she received the note sometime after retiring to her room. However both myself and Angela were in the kitchen at that time, so it couldn’t have been me.” 

“And then there were four,” Timebomb smirked. 

“Now we just gotta figure out who snapped,” Hank added.

“Anyone else got an alibi that can be confirmed?” Daniel asked. 

“Unfortunately not, all of us should have been in our rooms at the time,” Serina said. 

“I believe we can rule out Theo,” I said, “He was the one who solved the riddle which drew attention to himself, why would he do so if he was the killer?” 

“WHAT?!” Will yelled, “He also said he was the Ultimate Marksman, as in out of everyone here  _ he’s _ the one who would know how to kill somebody!”

Theo looked away at that remark, a somber expression on his face. 

“Dude, if it was him he would’ve used a gun, you know  _ Marksman _ ,” Randal said.

“Whatever! It could have been him!” Will screamed, a crazed look in his eyes, “Afterall, with his big arms, he could have easily  _ strangled _ Erin as he stabbed her!” 

“Wait… That’s… right?” I said, causing him to fall silent. 

“Uh… whaddya mean?” He asked nervously.

“How did you know Erin was strangled… I haven’t mentioned it and only Serina and Theo helped me examine the body,” I asked, looking at him quizzically. How did he know about the strangle markings? The more I looked at the Ultimate Free Runner, the more I thought something was off… something about his appearance was different… something was missing.

“Care to explain how you know something like that?” Theo said, staring the other teen down. 

“You guys… You guys are accusing  _ me?! _ ” Will schouted, his face going red, “No way, no fucking way! W-why are you jumping on me all of a sudden?!?” 

“Why do you know things about the crime scene you shouldn’t know?” Mari asked, “And hey… wasn’t one of the reasons you thought I did it was because I wanted to go to my dream school? That was a while before anyone brought up the murderer going to Hope's Peak!” 

“Almost as if you knew the answer to the riddle the whole time…” Jenny said, “is that why you stayed quiet ‘bout being an Ultimate?

“WHY… YOU LITTLE!” He screamed once again, “YOU CAN’T ACCUSE ME! YOU’VE GOT NO EVIDENCE!! NAADA, ZILCH! NOTHING!” 

He was fuming with rage, he looked like he was about to catch fire! 

“YOU’VE GOT NOTHING ON ME! YOU CAN’T SAY I KILLED HER!” As he said his final words, it finally clicked into place, I figured out what was off about him! “GIVE ME ONE BIT OF EVIDENCE IT WAS ME!” 

“YOUR PIERCING!” I yelled, catching him off guard.

“M-My what?!” He shouted.

I took the small metal ring from my pocket, “I found this piercing in Erin’s hand at the crime scene… you had a similar looking piercing, correct? One that is coincidently missing…”

“I… I…” Will stuttered, unable to come up with a defense.

“Run out of excuses?” Mari said. Will bit his lip.

“I believe we should recap how the murder accured to finish this,” Serina suggested, “Alice, you’ve contributed a lot to this investigation, would you care to do the honors?” 

“Of course,” I nodded, “Here’s how I believe the killer’s plan played out; 

_ First, While talking to Erin, the killer picked up on the fact that they could get away with murdering Mari, without facing legal consequence. However the killer knew Erin could reveal them to the rest of us, so they had to devise a plan that would kill them both. _

_ The killer proceeded to take a pen from Mari’s Ultimate Lab, hoping to frame her for a murder suicide. Then, they wrote two notes intended for their two victims, one telling Erin to meet in the bathroom at midnight, the Other to Mari, telling her to meet at 12:30. _

_ After dinner, they slipped out of their room and slipped the notes under their victim’s doors, after that, they simply played the waiting game. _

_ Right on schedule, Erin arrived in the girl’s bathroom, expecting to find Mari, however, she was confronted by the killer. She likely tried to get away, but regardless the killer got a hold of her, grabbing her neck while stabbing at her chest. Unfortunately for them, Erin fought back, being able to pull a piercing of her assailant’s face. Ultimately, though, a few fadal blows, and she quickly bled to death. _

_ After that, the killer waited for Mari to arrive to finish their plan, but she never did. Unlike Erin, she hadn’t fallen for the trap and remained in her room. _

_ After a half hour, the killer got impatient, and ran to Mari’s room, unknowingly tracking blood into the hallway. They proceeded to try and force their way into the room, making a lot of noise and waking up three of us.  _

_ After some time, they probably realised it they were just drawing unwanted attention to theirself, so they returned to their room, changed out of their bloody clothes and went to bed.  _

_ When we found the body his morning, they used the evidence, as well as the known bad blood between the girls, to try and turn suspicion onto Mari. But what they forgot about, was that they’d already left just enough evidence for Mari to prove herself innocent, and set us back on the right trail…  _

… Am I forgetting anything…” I finished, pointing toward the runner, “Will Fitzgerald.” 

He stared at me in stunned silence, for a moment it seemed as though he was a statue.

“Well then,” The Jester’s voice rang through the room, getting all of our attention, “The Jester believes that this is the right time to begin the voting! Everyone, please use your watches to vote who-dunnit!” 

My watch opened to an app that showed the pixelated, chibi versions of all of us. Text at the bottom read, “Select the killer.” I took a deep breath, and pressed Will’s icon. Soon after, everyone else pressed a button on their watches… everyone except Will. 

“The results are in!” The Jester said, taking out her tablet, she pressed a button as well, which caused a large screen to descend from the ceiling. The screen jolted to life, showing an image of a Roulette wheel, each of the sections had the heads of our pixel images. 

The wheel began to spin rapidly, making it hard to look at… until finally it stopped. Will’s icon was at the top, the screen was covered in graphics of fireworks and cheer sound effects as golden text appear: “Guilty!” 

  
  


**Class Trial: End!**

  
  


“CORRECT!” The Jester exclaimed, “The killer is none other, than the Ultimate Free Runner, Will Fitzgerald!” 

“I-I…” Will stuttered. 

“Honestly, it kinda makes sense,” Mari said, “You saw how he reacted to being locked in a room for 20 minutes, did we honestly think he would last that long in here?”

“But… Why? Why kill someone?” Angela asked, a sad expression on her face, “Why would anyone do something so horrible.” 

“Why…?” Will finally said, before yelling, “I’ll tell ya why!! I am the Ultimate Free Runner! I’m faster than everyone my age, and even some professional athletes! I am destined for greatness!! Not to die in this shithole with you losers! I’m gonna get out of here, and I am  _ Going _ to Hope's Peak, and none of you are gonna stop me!” 

“Correction, you  _ were _ gonna go to Hope's Peak,” The Jester spoke up. We all turned to her. 

“The fuck you say, you crazy clown!” Will yelled at her. 

The masked woman gave a creepy giggle, “Poor little willy… you aren’t going anywhere… you were caught. You aren’t being let out… you’re being punished!” 

“P-punished?” The runner took a step back, “W-What do you mean punished?” 

“Well… Let’s just say, I believe in an eye for an eye…. Punishment fits the crime…” The Jester continued to cackle menacingly. 

“No… you don’t mean…” Will looked terrified. 

“The Ultimate Free runner, William Fitzgerald! I’ve prepared a very special punishment for you!” She continued, doing a twirl in her chair, “Let’s give it everything we’ve got! IT’S PUNISHMENT TIME!” 

A fist sized red-button came from the armrest of her throne. Doing another twirl, she slammed down on it with her gavel, which caused the screen to change. I now showed a dark blue, pixelated environment, with Will’s Icon in the center. 

“ _ Will has been found guilty! _ ” Text appeared as a pixelated version of the Jester began to drag the pixelated Will away, “ _ Time for punishment! _ ” 

A feeling of dread swept over us all as the screen suddenly showed a camera view behind the Ultimate Free Runner. He turned around in shock, just before something none of us expected happened. A human sized collar attached to a chain shot from nowhere and attached itself to Will’s neck.

He struggled to pull it off, but was unsuccessful. The Jester cackled as she leaped from her throne, landing on the chain and forcing Will to his knees. The wicked woman tugged at the chain, which soon began to move back where it had come from, dragging her and Will along with it. 

She laughed maniacally as both she and her captive were dragged away. 

A terrible feeling engulfed us all as are eyes turned to the screen, which was still following Will as he was dragged away. Finally he was dragged into a room painted to look like it was outside, the origin of the chain being the wall in front of him. 

Will began heavily breathing as he looked around the room. He noticed the floor of this room was odd… it was in connected sections… almost like a giant treadmill. 

He looked to the back of the room, only to see the Jester atop a platform, giggling in a fit of manic laughter. Though what was right next to her was far more intimidating. A large trash compactor, painted to look like the jaws of a tiger. 

The screen changed to a title card that read; “ _ Run! Willy, Run! _ ”

After returning to the Image of Will, the Jester took out one of her guns and fired at the ceiling. After that, the treadmill floor began moving back toward the trash compactor, which had also activated.

Will quickly put together what was going to happen and began running against the treadmill, trying to stay ahead of it in spread. 

The Jester fired her gun again, causing the Treadmill and Compactor to move faster. The runner wasn’t going to give up so easily, however. He began to push himself further. 

The Jester cocked her gun again, but this time she didn’t aim at the ceiling… she aimed at Will’s legs. 

“ _ Bang! _ ” The ultimate Free Runner felt a splitting pain in his leg as he hit the ground. The treadmill dragged him back under the compactor. He didn’t have any time to scream before, “ _ Splat. _ ” 

His blood spilled everywhere as the machines stopped. We all donned terrified expressions as the Jester laughed and jumped down to the floor.

“ _ I wish I could see the looks on your faces!! _ ” She cackled… before doing the unthinkable. She walked over to the blood and took out her thermos. She giggled as she filled the empty cup with the blood of her latest victim, when it was full, she replaced the cap and straw, taking a long slurp, “ _ Delicious!”  _

I instantly felt sick… she was consuming Will’s remains…

“ _ The kid was fast, but no one can outrun death! _ ” The Jester continued to laugh, “ _ Anywho, you’re all free to return to the main building and go on with your day… but a little warning to the next killer… If you get caught… you’re next~! _ ” 

She cackled as the screen went black. 

**_Students left: 14_ **

**_To be continued..._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that got dark!
> 
> Anywho, it may be a bit til the next murder case, as I'm still figuring out how exactly Case 2 goes down. So in the meantime, if anyone wants to request a Freetime event for in between the murders, now's your chance! If you have a character you want to learn more about, better request em fast... they may not be around much longer~!


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